Summer Pot Luck Contest: Strata

Alexandra over at Alexandra's Kitchen provided the next dish for my Summer Pot Luck Contest - Summer Vegetable Strata. I'll be the first to admit that I hate stratas - hate them! But you know what...I liked this one. More comments to come in the wrap-up post. BTW, if you go to her blog linked above, the corn pudding looks amazing!

Summer Vegetable Strata

6 slices white sandwich bread
kosher salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, julienned
2 small yellow squash or zucchini
1 cup of roasted red peppers, julienned
2 cups milk, (1%, 2% or whole)
5 large eggs
½ cup pepper jack cheese
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (I used Ancho)
1 cup of basil leaves
¼ cup of chopped chives
1 ball of fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch thick slices to yield about a ½ cup

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Remove the crusts from the bread and crisp lightly in the toaster. Once cooled, arrange in a single layer in the bottom of the dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Over medium heat, sauté the onion in the oil until soft and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, trim the ends off the squash, cut them lengthwise into quarters, and then crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices. When the onion is slightly brown, add the squash and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the peppers and cook for a minute longer. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, half of the cheese, pepper flakes, basil, chives and a big pinch of salt. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to the baking pan, spreading them evenly over the bread. Pour the milk mixture over top. Scatter the remaining cheese and mozzarella over the top. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

***QUICK CONTEST UPDATE***
Tomorrow is the last day to submit recipes. I have received a couple of recipes from sites that are copyrighted, and are therefore not original. Please read the original post about the contest for the rules - there are always ways of making recipes your own. Thanks.