I am always on the search for a good casserole.

I don’t really make them that often, but I always want to make them.  The recipes I find just don’t seem to live up to what I want a casserole to be.  I have this idea that there are some magical casserole recipes out there just waiting for me to stumble upon them and discover their goodness.. but my search hasn’t brought me much luck.  Then this little winner came into being.

I first made this casserole for my family on Christmas morning of last year.  It came together as an adaptation of a sausage casserole recipe I found (see below), but I felt I had to change some things up to make it my own.  And when I made it last week, I changed it again because I wanted it to fit nicely in a 9×9 square pan (check out the link to see proportions for a 9×13 pan).  I love the taste and the savory smell that fills the house when it’s cooking.  My only complaint is that it takes a little long in the oven, and it can be a little hard to tell when it’s fully cooked (see “Note” below).  But don’t let that stop you from making it, please.

And if you have any excellent casserole recipes, please send me links.  I’d love to try them out and share them on Oven Love!

-8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

-8 eggs

-3 cups milk (it works with skim, don’t worry)

-1 tsp dry mustard

-1 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp onion powder

-fresh cracked black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter or spray a 9×9 baking dish (or similar size) with cooking spray. 

2. Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook until browned. Make sure the chunks of sausage have some space around them or your meat will steam and not brown. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and let sit on some paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess fat. Crumble into smaller pieces.

3. In the same pan, saute the onion and broccoli in the oil until soft.  Add some water to the pan, if needed, to help soften the broccoli.

3. Place bread into the buttered pan.  Sprinkle with half of the cheese, sausage and vegetable mixture. Combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread mixture.  Top with the remaining cheese.

4. At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven. Bake uncovered for about one hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

*Note: Make sure to check the middle of the casserole to see if it’s done before removing from the oven.  This can be deceiving, as a bit of excess water from the vegetables may pool at the top, so make sure you get in there with a knife and make sure it’s fully cooked.