Simplify the breakfast routine with easy casserole
If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then why not enjoy it at dinner?
I know just about any food can be eaten at breakfast (I’m looking at you, leftover pizza!), but for the sake of this discussion, I’m talking about egg-centric breakfast dishes.
Second to take-out food, such breakfast staples were the easiest weeknight dinners when all three children were growing up.
Eggs, meat, bread and fruit made for a happily fed family and relatively easy cleanup afterward.
We had variations too: birds nest with over-easy egg cooked inside a hole cut into a slice of bread; scrambled eggs with sausage patties and biscuits; bacon, egg, cheese and potato burritos; crumbled pork breakfast sausage mixed into pepper cream gravy and poured over biscuits; and spinach, cheese and mushrooms omelets.
Feeding breakfast to a crowd can make you feel more like a short-order cook if the eggs have to be fried in batches. An easy variation is the breakfast casserole.
The dish has many pluses. The first is a large quantity of food with little effort. There are eight protein-filled servings for starting a hard day of work or play, such as a trip to the deer lease.
Also, it can be prepared the night before and stored in the refrigerator before baking. Best of all, it tastes good.
The Breakfast Casserole recipe below is inspired by Breakfast Pizza in “Gatherings: A West Texas Collection of Recipes” (1992) from the Caprock Girl Scout Council. Pat Cruse of Post submitted the recipe for the 222-page, spiralbound, softcover cookbook.
The dish has been a favorite of my husband and brother at deer “camp” – if by camp you mean a modern mobile home in the middle of nowhere but with water, electricity and kitchen appliances. They cook it in an aluminum pan so cleanup is minimal.
The original recipe called for half a pound of breakfast sausage, along with frozen hashed brown potatoes. I doubled the former and cut the latter.
I also add a couple more eggs than the six listed in the original recipe and expound on the directions.
And, for bonus healthiness, I have on occasion mixed chopped fresh spinach and mushrooms into the meat mixture.
This is a good recipe to have when hosting company during the holidays, giving you more time to enjoy friends and family and less time prepping food. And remember, it works for dinner too.
Share your favorite recipes or foodrelated historical recollections by emailing Laura Gutschke at laura.gutschke@reporternews.com.
Breakfast Casserole
1 pound breakfast sausage 1 small onion, diced
1⁄ green bell pepper, diced 2
Optional: 1 (8-ounce) package white mushrooms, sliced and chopped
Optional: 1-2 cups fresh baby spinach, rough chopped
1 (8-count) can crescent rolls 8 large eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Colby Jack, Cheddar or other favorite melty cheese, shredded
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, using a cooking spoon to break the meat into crumbles.
When the meat is cooked about halfway through, stir in the onion and bell pepper (and optional spinach and mushrooms) and continue cooking.
When the meat is fully cooked, remove from heat and set aside. The meat can be cooked and refrigerated up to a day ahead of assembling the casserole.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Gently roll out the crescents dough into the bottom of the pan, carefully pinching the seams together to prevent gaps.
Pour the eggs over the dough. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Evenly spread the meat mixture on top of the eggs.
Sprinkle the cheese on top of the meat mixture.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until top is just brown and bubbly. Wait about 2-3 minutes before cutting into 8 servings.