Does your heart skip a beat at the thought of cinnamon French toast with a side of bacon? This weekend, skip the middle man with this creamy, gooey, crunchy and just-slightly-savory casserole. It practically begs to be front and center at your next brunch.
Diced pancetta, bacon's slightly sweeter Italian cousin, is the undercover star of this dish. After being cooked in a bit of olive oil, it's layered into the mix, providing a savory, salty foil to the eggy bread and cinnamon and brown-sugar laden ricotta.
The overnight soak allows the casserole to take on a trifecta of textures. The bottom bread gets gooey with the flavors of cinnamon and vanilla, the ricotta seeps in between the bread cubes and, after baking, the top crust gets crunchy and golden brown. Best eaten warm, this casserole is the perfect one-dish weekend indulgence.
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 pound pancetta; diced
1 small ciabatta loaf, thinly sliced
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; divided
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 cup half and half
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Butter an 8 x 8-inch casserole dish and set aside.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat and cook the pancetta 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Fold together ricotta, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, vanilla and dark brown sugar. In a separate bowl whisk together the 5 eggs, half and half and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
Place a layer of ciabatta in the prepared pan. Spread the ricotta cheese mixture over the bread. Sprinkle cooled pancetta over top. Layer the remaining bread slices over top. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the casserole from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake 40 minutes or until the custard is set. Serve warm.
Related: Best Served Hot: What is Your Favorite Casserole?
(Images: Rebekah Peppler)
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Oh my god, I'm definitely making this for Sunday morning!
Oh my god. Speechless (and making grocery shopping list...)
Allow me to echo the "oh my god"s! Need this in my life (and mouth) (and stomach).
That has to be one of the best ideas. Ever.
Oh my....this sounds positively delicious.
Sounds so good. But I seem to hate ricotta. Any not ricotta/cottage cheese substitution ideas?
@queenofthefall. Creamy Mascarpone cheese would be an awesome substitution to the ricotta. It's the Italian version of cream cheese. Sweeten it the same way as the ricotta and enjoy! - R
This begs for a glass of champagne and the phone turned off - what a great way to launch the week-end!
I ... feel ... faint. Must have this. Now.
I normally can't bring myself to eat most pork products due to the factory farming, but this is incentive enough to suck it up and buy the super expensive locally-cured pastured pancetta. Yum!
This looks perfect for Valentine's my brunch party!
Any substitution suggestions for the ciabatta bread? I don't know of any bakeries in my neighbourhood that make it.
@sabrina2010 Feel free to sub in a brioche or challah bread (the consistency will be a bit softer). Otherwise a day old french loaf would be great! Enjoy!
This is a fantastic recipe. I made it using marscapone cheese instead of ricotta, and sprinkled frosted flakes on the top before I baked it. Mmmm, so good. It's savory and sweet and custardy and crispy, all the best.
how much is "a small loaf"?
OMG- made this for Easter- followed recipe exactly and people went crazy over it! I almost did not add the panchetta because I got a little scared about the saltiness but that is exactly what people loved. Thanks so much for posting this!