Sausage Strata

 

The original recipe is credited to my Aunt Lisa in my cookbook.

• 2 1/2c herbed croutons
• 2c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2lb breakfast sausage (1 regular, 1 hot is the standard recipe, adjust for your personal spice tolerance)
• 6 eggs, large
• 2 1/2c milk
• 3/4 Tbsp dry mustard
• 1 16oz can Cream of Mushroom
• 1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained
• Preheat oven to 300*F.
• Grease a 9x13" casserole dish and add croutons, top with cheese.
• In a large pan, brown the sausage and drain. Add sausage to the casserole dish.
• In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, mustard, Cream of Mushroom, and mushrooms and mix. Note: I find it easier to combine eggs, mustard, and milk first, then mix in the rest.
• Pour egg mixture over the croutons, cheese, and sausage gently. Do your best to keep it even. Do not mix once it's in the casserole dish. If the mixture is not settling evenly, tilt the casserole dish side to side to help it disperse.
• At this point, you can cover the dish and freeze or keep in fridge overnight. Adjust bake time to account for fridge chilled or frozen.
• Otherwise, bake immediately at 300*F for 1hr 15min.

Note: Sometimes I skip the extra can of mushrooms, I'm not a big mushroom fan. I did not need to adjust any other ingredients when doing that.

Note: If you're prepping this in advance and freezing expect the bake time to be closer to 2 hours or more. I just poke a hole in the middle when checking for doneness.