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1
Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3.
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2
Butter a 23 x 33-cm baking dish and set aside.
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3
Place the bacon rashers in a large frying pan, cover them with water and put the pan over high heat.
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4
When the water has cooked off, reduce the heat to medium and cook the bacon until nicely browned and crisp.
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5
Remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
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6
Add the sausagemeat to the bacon fat in the pan.
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7
Cook the sausagemeat, breaking it up as it cooks.
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8
Meanwhile, chop the bacon coarsely.
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9
When the sausagemeat is nearly cooked through, add the onion and continue to cook until the onion is tender, another 5 minutes or so.
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10
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausagemeat-onion mixture to the plate with the bacon.
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11
Combine the eggs, milk, cream, mustard powder, salt, pepper and cayenne in a large bowl or glass measuring jug.
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12
Whisk or blend with a hand-held blender until the custard is uniform.
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13
Put half of the bread cubes in an even layer in the prepared baking dish.
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14
Sprinkle half of the bacon-sausagemeat-onion mixture evenly across the bread.
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15
Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly over this.
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16
Repeat the layers.
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17
Pour the custard over them.
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18
The dish can be baked right away or covered and refrigerated for up to a day.
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19
Bake until the centre is hot and the top is invitingly browned, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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20
Cut and serve hot.
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21
Alternatively, leave it to cool then chill it in the refrigerator and eat it cold, or cut the chilled strata into serving-sized pieces and reheat in a 180C (Gas 4) oven to serve.
