I have seen these recipes and I have wondered if they were good.
Quite a few of the recipes I've found use bread in the egg casserole. I don't use the bread. Here's one that I use and it's easy to vary it.
Following this one is the baked french toast.
Prep Time 20 min. (including cooking sausage)
Cook Time 60-70 min. (plus cooling) for baking
Total Time
Serves About 12-20 pieces
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage
- 1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion (from about half a large onion)
- 8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (sometimes labeled "country style")
- 2 cups shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup diced green pepper (from about 1 small-medium pepper)
- 2-3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (to equal about 1 - 1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions (from about 6 onions)
- 12 eggs
- 1 3/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook sausage, onions, mushrooms, and garlic until sausage is no longer pink and mushrooms have given off some of their liquid, about 10 minutes. Throughout cooking, stir to crumble sausage and break up mushrooms. (You can leave the mushrooms in larger slices or break them into almost unnoticeable little pieces as you crumble the sausage.) Drain the liquid.
- In a 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray, layer potatoes (there is no need to thaw them), sausage mixture, 1 cup cheese, green peppers, tomatoes, and green onions.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, parsley, salt, basil, and pepper. Whisk thoroughly to combine, then add remaining 1 cup of cheese and whisk again. Pour egg mixture evenly over other ingredients in baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Alternately, you can bake this casserole immediately.)
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake casserole, uncovered, for about 60-70 minutes, or until egg in middle is just set and edges are lightly golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Recipe Notes
Make-Ahead Options:
If you need to start on this recipe even earlier than the evening before your brunch, you can cook the sausage, onions, mushrooms, and garlic earlier in the day or a day ahead, and also chop the green peppers and green onions. Refrigerate the sausage mixture and the chopped peppers and onions in separate containers until assembling the casserole.
Here's one for the baked french toast (warning: this can be addictive)
Makes 8 servings
3 hours 45 minutes (includes soaking time)
French toast:
- 1 1-pound loaf challah, sliced 1" thick
- Unsalted butter, room temperature (for baking dish)
- 4 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Pecan crumble and assembly:
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
- For french toast:
- Spread out bread on a rimmed baking sheet; let stand overnight.
- Butter a 13x9" baking dish. Cut bread so slices are similar in size. Arrange, overlapping, in rows in prepared dish.
- Whisk eggs, egg yolks, cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour over bread, pressing bread to help it soak up custard. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
- DO AHEAD: Bread can be soaked 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
- For pecan crumble and assembly:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Pulse pecans, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until nuts are coarsely chopped.
- Scatter pecan crumble over soaked bread. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake until warmed through (a knife inserted into the center should feel warm to the touch), 25–30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until deeply browned, 35–40 minutes longer. Let cool slightly before serving