Breakfast/Brunch
It’s Part II of my “virtual” Mother’s Day brunch! To complement the brown sugary, melt-in-your-mouth Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake, I’ll be celebrating my mom and mom-in-law with a savory Sausage Breakfast Casserole. I know they’ll love it – both moms have prepared similar dishes for my husband and me when we’ve visited. It’s the kind of breakfast we look forward to when we’re together.
The hot sausage and pepper jack cheese give the casserole a little kick of heat without being overly spicy. With the custard soaked into cubes of country bread the dish is very much like a savory bread pudding, or strata. The mustard in the custard (I’ve been reading too much Dr. Seuss!) adds such incredible flavor yet it’s subtle enough that the non-mustard fan in our house still doesn’t know it was in there. I was intimidated at first by the idea of using ten eggs – it’s a few more than I’m used to in a single recipe – but I came around when I realized it worked out to fewer than two eggs per person.
A slice of this casserole is a meal in itself. But if you’re like me, you’ve always got a little room for cake too.
Happy Mother’s Day!
P.S. I’m submitting this to the Celebrating Mother’s Day blog event on Kopiaste.. to Greek Hospitality – the roundup of dishes will be posted on May 10.
Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Adapted slightly from the Spicy Breakfast Casserole recipe on the Hot Flavor Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage package
Serves 6 (generously)
INGREDIENTS:
16 oz. package hot pork breakfast sausage
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups cubed bread (I used a country levain, crusts removed)
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded pepper jack cheese
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup thin-sliced green onions
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt; stir well.
Distribute half the bread evenly in a buttered 9″ x 13″ x 2″ baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage and half the onions. Repeat layering using remaining bread, pepper, cheese, sausage and onions. Pour egg mixture evenly over casserole.
Bake uncovered for 60 minutes, or until eggs are set. Tent with foil if the top begins to brown too quickly.
NOTE: May be assembled ahead and refrigerated up to 12 hours before baking.
Breakfast/Brunch
17 Comments
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17 Comments
The Duo Dishes wrote:
Yum! This just screams Southern breakfast. You get a little bit of everything in one bite. We would not be opposed to using grits or polenta instead of bread for a true all-in-one-breakfast. :0
The Duo Dishes’s last blog post..Much Better This Time
Posted 5.8.09Reply
dawn wrote:
I am the only one in the family that loves my sausage, so I could have this all to myself then. LOL
dawn’s last blog post..the ultimate peanut butter cookie
Posted 5.8.09Reply
Susan wrote:
Looks delicious!
Posted 5.9.09Reply
Ivy wrote:
I’d love this for breakfast, especially if someone else would make it for me 🙂
Happy Mother’s DayIvy’s last blog post..Orange Yoghurt Cake
Posted 5.9.09Reply
Now that’s my kind of breakfast. It looks and sounds delicious!
Pam’s last blog post..Avocado and Olive Quesadillas
Posted 5.11.09Reply
Heidi / Savory Tv wrote:
This looks so wonderful! Breakfast is truly my favorite meal of the day. Cheers!
Heidi / Savory Tv’s last blog post..Smoking on a Gas or Charcoal Grill
Posted 5.24.09Reply
Anna wrote:
Actually this is just like stratta! We make it every year on Christmas morning. 🙂
Posted 6.15.09Reply
Brandi wrote:
2 questions:
1) Do you think ground turkey could substitute the hot pork breakfast sausage? If so, what do you think I could do to make it hot like the pork you used ?
2) Cubed bread… just use regular sandwich bread and cut it into cubes without the crust?Thanks for your help.
Posted 8.1.10Reply
Kathy wrote:
Hi Brandi – If you’d prefer to use turkey rather than pork, I’d suggest going for a turkey sausage. That way you’ll have all the good sausage flavors (which are pretty integral to the dish). As for the bread, I like to use artisan loaves from the bakery dept at the grocery store so I can cut it into 1″ cubes. I usually cut off the crusts.
Posted 8.2.10Reply
Brandi wrote:
I ended up making this for my boyfriend’s birthday last week and we both really liked it 🙂 I used a breakfast turkey sausage and it turned out really well. I assembled mine the night before and it wasn’t very time consuming. I’ll definitely be making it again!
Posted 9.14.10Reply
Kathy wrote:
So glad it worked out well for you!
Posted 9.14.10Reply
Shannon wrote:
Made this for my family this morning and it was delicious! I would recommend leaving out the salt, however. The cheese and sausage made it plenty salty already.
Thanks!
Posted 1.7.12Reply
Sharron wrote:
Can this be made and cooked ahead then frozen. I have company coming to visit and would like to do a few do ahead dishes. This one sounds great.
Posted 2.16.17Reply
Kathy Strahs wrote:
Hmmm…maybe? I’m afraid I’m not a big freeze-ahead person, I haven’t tried it. ~Kathy
Posted 2.16.17Reply
