By Ellen Cawood

Kitchen Corner

Well everybody, Christmas is finally here! This year my family and I are having Christmas Eve lunch where we all bring dishes and have a smorgasbord of things to choose from. I’m going to be bringing last week’s hot chocolate recipe that I shared along with this week’s casserole.

Since we are doing lunch, I thought it would be nice to have a breakfast item on the table to add variety. This could be something you eat with your family Christmas morning, or any morning during the year!

Christmas Brunch Casserole

Ingredients: 1 pound maple sausage, 2 cups of day old bread chunks, 6 eggs, 1 ½ cups of milk, ½ a cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, ½ a yellow onion minced, 1 red bell pepper minced, salt, pepper

Instructions: This is a recipe you begin the night before, so make sure to plan ahead.

Place a sprayed skillet on your oven over medium high heat. Add minced onion and half of the minced bell pepper and cook until onion is translucent. Add the maple sausage to the skillet and cook until brown and then set aside. In a mixing bowl add the eggs, whipping cream, milk, salt, pepper, and mustard, and whisk until combined. Tear your day old bread into bite sized chunks and line the bottom of a 10×10 baking dish with them. Next layer your sausage, and then add a thick layer of sharp cheddar cheese.

Pour the egg mixture over top of the layers you just created with the bread, sausage and cheese, and garnish the top with the remaining minced bell pepper for color. Cover in aluminum foil and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning preheat the oven to 350. Pull the casserole out of the fridge and let sit on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes, letting it come to room temperature. Bake with the aluminum foil on for 50 minutes and then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve! Merry Christmas everyone.