strata with spinach and peppers

My sister got a great cookbook a few years ago, The New York Times Country Weekend Cookbook, which has become a valuable resource during all of the weekends I've been spending up in Dutchess County.  I recently tried a recipe for "overnight strata with spinach and peppers" for Sunday brunch and it was a big hit. And super impressive looking since it got quite inflated in the oven. I used all of the leftover basil and pine nuts to make pesto.

As the name suggests, the overnight strata, (think a savory Italian bread pudding), is supposed to be assembled the night before. But I was too tired to cook on Saturday night and assembled the entire thing on Sunday morning. Also, the original recipe called for 1 entire pound of brie cheese, which seemed far too decadent, so my version has less, but by all means you should go full cheese if you're up for it.

Here's the recipe:

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for pan
1 each: red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, seeded, cored, and chopped
1 large loaf of challah, brioche, or egg-based bread
2 small bunches spinach, washed, chopped, and stems removed (pre-washed baby spinach would probably be easier)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup julienned basil leaves
8 eggs
1 quart milk
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
8 oz brie, sliced
2 cups shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Heat olive oil in a large pan and cook onions and peppers until softened. Add spinach leaves and cook until spinach has wilted down completely. Season with salt and pepper.

3) Blend the eggs, milk and garlic, and nutmeg in a blender. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Oil a large baking dish. Slice challah into 3/4" slices and arrange half of it into the bottom of the baking dish. Distribute half the onion, pepper, and spinach mixture onto the top of the bread, top with half the pine nuts, and pour over half of the egg mixture, pressing in the bread so it absorbs the liquid.  Top with half of the shredded mozzarella and sliced brie. Repeat with the remaining bread, vegetables, pine nuts, egg mixture, and cheese.

5) Place baking dish on foil lined baking sheet (in case of overflow) and bake for ~60 minutes, or until bubbling and cooked through. Cool slightly before cutting.

restaurant review: The Leopard at Des Artistes

Sometime during the late summer of 2009, Cafe des Artistes, the landmark French restaurant on tree-lined West 67th Street, quietly closed its doors.  At first, the sign on the door announced that the restaurant would be closed for a month-long vacation, but as the weeks went by, facing rising losses and a union lawsuit, the owners of the mural-clad institution decided to permanently shut the place down -- another victim of the global recession.

I had only visited Cafe des Artistes a few times. Once, for a lovely and memorable lunch with my mother and her cousin during summer restaurant week during the late 1990's.  Later, after I moved to the neighborhood, a friend turned me on to the small parlor bar across the lobby from the restaurant, where we spent an evening drinking wine paired with a cheese plate and perfect french fries. And finally, only a few weeks before it closed, I enjoyed a very pleasant restaurant week dinner with my friend, and fellow Upper West Sider, Steph, in the elegant and dimly-lit dining room. Business did seem slow, but summer in New York City usually is.

In early 2011, I was delighted to read that the owners of Il Gattopardo in Midtown had taken over the space and were reopening it as The Leopard at Des Artistes (gattopardo means leopard in Italian). Don't let the name fool you -- the menu is decidedly Italian, Sicilian in fact. And those famous murals, featuring Howard Chandler Christy's "Fantasy Scenes with Naked Beauties," have been cleaned up and reframed in the sleeker dining room.

I first stopped by in July of 2011 for a fancy drink at their bar with my sister and West 67th Street native, Catherine. We were treated to a plate of piping hot aranicini - a rich, greasy, and crispy compliment to a glass of full-bodied wine. I had been meaning to go back for dinner ever since, but the menu looked a hair too pricey for a non-special occasion meal. This spring, I am pleased to report that I had two wonderful special occasion meals at The Leopard: our third wedding anniversary and Easter with my family, and I am officially smitten with this new kitten on the block.

On our wedding anniversary, Judd and I shared a special pasta appetizer as our first course. The noodle was similar to a rigatoni, and the spicy tomato-based sauce included large chunks of lobster meat and fresh fava beans. It was really delicious. For my entree, I selected meatloaf, which Sam Sifton had described as "phenomenal" in his August 2011 NY Times review.  I happen to love meatloaf, and I was excited to try the Leopard's version with veal, beef, prosciutto, pine nuts, and peas. It was served smothered in a tomato sauce with a pile of spicy broccoli rabe and pureed potatoes and, true to Mr. Sifton's praise, it was outstanding. Judd ordered veal medallions braised in their own juice, dusted with fennel pollen. Also very tasty. We finished our celebratory dinner with a pleasing mascarpone panna cotta.

We returned for Easter with my mother and sister, (so did Howard Stern and his wife -- they were a few tables away), and had another fantastic dinner. We each enjoyed specials from the holiday menu to begin, including a spring vegetable soup and a room temperature pie made with seasonal greens. I had another order of the decidedly phenomenal meatloaf; Judd had homemade pappardelle with rabbit ragu and mushrooms; and my mother and sister both ordered the lightly breaded swordfish, simply dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and parsley.  Everyone was very happy with their selection.

We finished our meal with the panna cotta and zabaglione with fresh berries. The zabaglione, made table side (which I always hate) by our slightly awkward waiter, was the only low note in our otherwise lovely dinner. Too warm, too soupy, and too boozy. And too expensive at $16.

And speaking of expensive, while most of the entrees are priced well into the $30+ range, the pastas, which could certainly be eaten as main courses, remain affordable. Also, the noteworthy meatloaf seems like a bargain at only $26, so you can dine at the Leopard without going too far over the top. And I recommend that you do, because the Leopard is an elegant and delicious addition to the Upper West Side.

***

Details:

The Leopard at Des Artistes
1 West 67th Street
New York City
(212) 787-8767

Special occasion Sicilian dinner for two: ~$200 (but we sort of saved money because we could walk home!)