Our recipes generally begin with the words: “Come on Over.” Not this week! (Thank you, Covid-19 pandemic!) But this is the perfect recipe to share during this time when most, if not all, of your family is home. In fact, if you live alone or if there are only two of you in the house, this is still a great dish to make, because you can refrigerate or freeze the leftovers! Joe and I enjoyed this for our late breakfast this morning. The story behind this recipe is at the end (because I hate reading all the blah-blah-blah and finally getting to the recipe when I look for new ones)!

“Come on Over” Breakfast/Brunch Casserole

Prep time: 10 minutes-ish
Cooking time: 50 minutes, and 5-10 minutes of “settle” time
Serves: 8 pieces (or makes multiple meals for two)
From the kitchen of Brenda Henderson

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray or olive oil (for bottom of baking dish)
• 1 pound browned and cooled ground sausage (any flavor or flavor-level—i.e., mild, Italian, hot, etc.—will do)
• 6 eggs, whisked
• 2 cups milk (any kind is fine)
• 6 slices white or wheat bread (but please note the differences for each in the directions below), de-crusted and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 generous cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• OPTIONAL: 1/2 tsp fennel (brings out the flavor of the pork, but not necessary)
• OPTIONAL: 2 slices onion, diced

Directions:

1. Lightly spray (or lightly grease with olive oil) the bottom of a 7×10 baking dish. Set aside.
2. Brown the sausage and set aside to cool before adding to other ingredients.
3. Using a fork, whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Pour whisked eggs into a large mixing bowl.
4. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into cubes. Note: if using white bread, simply cut into 1″ cubes (the white bread absorbs the milk easily); if using wheat bread, cut cubes into 1/2″ or smaller (the wheat bread tends to get “gunky” if you don’t cut it small enough, and you can taste “mushy bread” in the casserole).
5. Add optional slices of diced onion here if you choose.
6. Add milk, salt, pepper, and shredded cheese.
7. Add optional fennel.
8. Add cooled sausage.
9. Stir ingredients to mix well.
10. Pour mixture into pre-greased baking dish. (See step 1.)
11. Cover with plastic wrap (such as Saran). Let sit in refrigerator overnight.

The next morning:

1. Remove casserole from refrigerator and remove plastic covering. Let sit 20-30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Bake 50 minutes. (It will be “bubbling” around the edge and slightly starting to “brown” at this point.)
4. Let sit on hot pad/trivet on countertop for about 5-10 minutes to let it “settle.”
5. Cut into 8 large rectangles.
6. Enjoy!

Joe and I were married in a small ceremony with just under one hundred people present. We actually had a wedding brunch at 10:00, which was immediately followed by our ceremony! My mother and I searched high and low for the perfect brunch casserole and ended up blending about six different recipes to come up with this one! Our caterer did a wonderful job using this combination of ingredients to perfectly replicate what we had chosen! This is now called “Wedding Brunch Casserole” at our house!

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Let us know how you/your family liked the casserole!

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