Breakfast Casserole - 2 Ways

For my little guy's 1st birthday, I hosted a brunch at our place. I wanted to make a savory breakfast casserole that would feed a crowd and could be made ahead of time. I went went with a simple sausage egg bake. I'm glad I did, it turned out delicious! 

This recipe is very versatile, you can use whatever meat and veggie combo you like. I made one with sausage, onions, mushrooms, and green pepper. The other I used bacon, onions, asparagus and yellow bell pepper. They both were really tasty.

Breakfast Egg Casserole

1 lb of Italian pork sausage
4 1/2 cups cubed day old bread
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
10 eggs slightly beaten
4 cups whole milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)


METHOD

Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, working in batches if need be, until browned all around. Make sure the chunks of sausage have some space around them or your meat will steam and not brown. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and let sit on some paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess fat. Crumble into smaller pieces.

Place bread in a well buttered 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread and cheese. Sprinkle sausage and optional ingredients over the top.

At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about one hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

Serves 6-8

* I added onions, bell pepper and mushrooms. I sauteed these together with the cooked sausage.

Source: simplyrecipes.com