Mini Savory Breakfast Casserole

Man, I haven't posted in a while. I haven't really been cooking lately; I've been terribly busy. My kitchen has taken a back seat to other things that need to get done. That's alright, because I've gotten to eat out a fair amount and let's be honest, I do love great restaurants.

I'm still busy, but with Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I've been very conscious to attempt to clean out my fridge and pantry to make room for leftovers.

So what do I do with half a loaf of stale bread?

Crispy on the outside...gooey on the inside...it's kind of like me on vacation in Hawai'i.

BREAKFAST obviously.

This was kind of an experiment, but dangit, did it turn out delicious. If I weren't trying to lose weight I probably would have had two of these suckers. But one bowl full of cheese and sausage and egg is probably pushing it as it is. Clearly I'm not trying too hard.

Have you tried this? It's actually very easy to improvise, which is exactly what I did. Here's how it went down:

1.) Before the bread was too stale to cut, I made little cubes about 1 inch in size, and set them out overnight to let them crisp up. I'm sure it would work just as well if they sat out for only a few hours, or even not at all.

2.) I chopped up some onion (about 1/4 of a medium one), and sliced up a leftover spicy chicken sausage from Trader Joe's that I still had in the freezer.

3.) Then, I threw them in a pan to sauté them with some olive oil. Sprinkled on some Salt & Pepper, Herbs de Province, Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage.

Hold me.

4.) Meanwhile, I beat 4 eggs with a little bit of water (it looks like some recipes call for cream or milk, I'll try that next time but I didn't have any). Added some S&P, and a handful of shredded mozzarella. A different cheese would have been better, but it's all I had.

5.) I added the bread cubes to the pan once the sausage and onions were cooked to my liking. Stirred everything up, then began to spoon the mixture into my little Le Creusets. I filled three of them with the half loaf of bread. (Note to self --- next time, give the cooking vessels a bit of oil so the bread doesn't stick.)

6.) Then, I poured the egg mixture over the top, trying to douse every cube in liquid. Let it sit overnight in the fridge. The next morning, I noticed some of the bread probably was a little dryer than I would have liked....so next time, I'll probably add an extra egg, and either a lot more water or milk. I ended up adding a little water before I put it in the oven.

7.) With the oven at 350º, this little sucker cooked perfectly in about 45 minutes. The top bread browned pretty quick, so I put the lid on for half the cooking time.

8.) Let cool a bit, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and there you have it. Comfort food breakfast!!!

I would probably have to run for several hours to burn this off. But I will not be doing that. 

I'm happy to add this to my arsenal. It came out perfect --- browned and crispy on the outside, spongy and moist on the inside. And it had great savory flavor.

Plus, it's one of those dishes where you can sort of use whatever filling you like...bacon, green peppers, spinach, mushrooms, whatever.

I'm currently worshipping Bird-from-last-night because thanks to her, I have TWO more of these suckers in the fridge. Lucky future-Bird!!!