Football is kind of a big deal around here. Between my need to watch Georgia games and Toby’s desire to watch every other football game ever played… it can get a little excessive. And while I’m on board with lot of football on TV, I wasn’t super excited when I realized that moving to the West Coast means that football starts before noon.

I wasn’t a fan of the old men who started tailgating outside my dorm window at 7 a.m. in college, and I don’t really want to have to wake up before 9 to watch a game. But there is one exciting thing about early football: the potential for football brunch.

Our first football brunch was unofficially themed a “bacon bonanza.” So, in addition to the candied bacon, we had maple bacon biscuits (recipe coming later this week) and cheese and bacon strata. Arteries be damned!

I had never seen a strata until I went to Toby’s mom’s house for the first time. If you also aren’t familiar, it’s a layered casserole-type situation with eggs and bread and whatever kinds of ingredients you like. It’s great for breakfast or brunch, because you assemble it the night before and then can just pop it in the oven in the morning.

You actually don’t need to put bacon in this, if you don’t want to — you could use some sausage, or just leave the meat out altogether. You can also customize it a bit by using two kinds of cheese (I just used sharp Cheddar).

It isn’t very pretty, but it is very simple to put together (I promise) and a great savory (and super cheesy) option for football brunch or just a lazy Sunday morning!

Cheese and bacon strata (Serves 6-8, adapted from my mother-in-law)
10-12 slices white bread
8 slices bacon
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar (the sharper the better), colby and/or monterey jack cheese
4 to 6 large eggs (I used 4)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 1/2 cups milk

The night before you want to serve the strata, cut the crusts off the bread and get rid of them. Cook the bacon and set on paper towels to drain. Grate the cheese.

Melt the butter and pour a small amount into an 11×7-inch baking dish (it’s OK if you use a slightly smaller or bigger dish, but you may need to use a bit more bread and other ingredients, depending). Place half of the crustless pieces of the bread down in the dish to create one layer — they don’t all have to touch, but they should be close to each other.

Sprinkle about half of the cheese over the bread, then crumble or chop the cooked bacon into pieces and spread all the pieces out evenly on top of the cheese. Layer the rest of the bread slices on top, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the bread so the whole thing is covered.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a fork or whisk and then stir (or whisk) in the rest of the melted (and now slightly cooled) butter, the spices and the milk. Pour that into the baking dish (over the layers of cheese, bread and bacon). Cover the strata and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 325F, then uncover the strata and bake it for about 45 minutes — until the cheese is bubbly and brown around the edges and the strata seems to have firmed up. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.