Alright, so I found myself with some sourdough bread this morning. You know how it goes, it’s a day or two old, not quite sad enough to toss, but definitely not peak sandwich material anymore. So, a sourdough bread breakfast casserole, that’s what I decided I was gonna make. Figured I’d share how it went, ’cause why not?
First thing, that bread. I just grabbed the loaf – it was one of those nice tangy ones – and started tearing it up. Didn’t bother with cubing it perfectly or anything. Just ripped it into decent-sized chunks. I find they soak things up better when they’re a bit rough around the edges. Threw all those pieces straight into my old reliable glass baking dish. Nothing fancy, but it does the job.
Then, the egg mixture. This is where you can’t really go wrong, can you? I cracked a bunch of eggs into a bowl. How many? Lost count, probably around six or eight. Just enough to look right for the amount of bread. Splashed in some milk. Then I saw some heavy cream in the fridge, so a bit of that went in too. Figured it couldn’t hurt, right? For richness. Seasoned it up with salt, pepper, a bit of garlic powder because I put that in everything, and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. Some folks swear by nutmeg in eggy things. Whisked it all together.
Now for the good stuff, the add-ins. Sausage was a must. Had some breakfast sausage links, so I sliced ’em and fried ’em up in a skillet until they were nicely browned. Scooped those out. Had an onion and half a bell pepper sitting there, looking a bit lonely, so I chopped them up. Tossed them into the same skillet with a bit of that leftover sausage grease. Cooked ’em for a few minutes ’til they softened. Simple as that.
And cheese. Oh yeah, cheese. Pulled out a block of sharp cheddar and some Monterey Jack I had. Grated up a good heap of it. My rule is, you can’t really overdo the cheese in a breakfast casserole. It’s just not possible.
Okay, time to put it all together. I spread about half the bread chunks in the dish. Then sprinkled over most of the cooked sausage and veggies. Piled on a good layer of cheese. Then repeated the layers: rest of the bread, rest of the sausage and veggies, and then covered it all with the remaining cheese. It’s kinda like building a savory bread pudding, really.
Once that was done, I poured the egg mixture all over the top. Tried to make sure it got down into all the nooks and crannies. Pushed down on the bread a bit so it all got a good soaking. Now, a lot of recipes will tell you to let this thing sit in the fridge overnight. And look, I’m sure that’s great. But it was morning, and I was hungry. So, I just let it sit on the counter while the oven preheated, maybe 30, 40 minutes? Close enough, I figured. It turned out fine, so there you go.
Then, into the oven it went. I usually aim for around 350, maybe 375 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s not an exact science with my oven, anyway. Bake time? That’s always a bit of a ‘watch it and see’ situation, isn’t it? Depends on how deep your dish is, how your oven behaves. I just kept an eye on it. Probably took about 45 minutes to an hour. You’re looking for it to be all puffed up, golden brown on top, and mostly set in the middle. A little jiggle is fine, but you don’t want it sloshing around.
Pulled it out when it looked right. And here’s a piece of advice, if you take any: let it rest. I know, it smells incredible and you want to dive right in. But give it at least 10, maybe 15 minutes. It helps it firm up, so when you go to cut it, it actually holds its shape. Or, you know, just scoop it out with a big spoon if you can’t wait. I won’t judge.
And that was pretty much it. Scooped myself a generous helping. And you know what? It was really, really good. Cheesy, savory, that sourdough tang gives it a nice little kick. The sausage and veggies just rounded it all out. A proper, stick-to-your-ribs kind of breakfast. Definitely one I’ll be making again. It’s one of those easy-going dishes, you know? Throw in what you’ve got, and it usually works out. Can’t beat that.
