Pork Sausage Breakfast Casserole

There are two kinds of people in the world. People who believe that a big breakfast sets you up for a successful day and people who believe in intermittent fasting. I’m in the first group and am such a true believer in breakfast that sometimes we have breakfast for dinner around here. Pancakes and bacon? Yes please. Bacon butty? I’m in. Poached eggs on toast? Pretty much every week. But even these breakfasts are a compromise to modern life where the idea of cooking anything before 5pm Monday through Friday is a pipe dream. They only happen on weekends which is really unfortunate.

Alas, if we have to live in a world where you can only have a big breakfast, realistically, once a week I say let’s commit. Let’s go big and make it the kind of breakfast that keeps you all day and wakes you up the next morning hoping for leftovers. Enter the breakfast casserole.

A short word on the word “casserole”. Where I grew up in the Midwest a casserole was basically anything you mixed together, put into a rectangular dish and put in the oven. Tuna casserole, tater tot casserole, cheeseburger casserole. You can put a lot of words in front of “casserole” in America and come up with a great dinner. Over here in the UK, there isn’t the same connotation. I would argue that cottage pie is a casserole but my family and I have debated that at length and have had to declare a truce because there is a fundamental disagreement over how much liquid is involved in a real casserole. If you were born on this side of the pond, it is interchangeable with stew, really.

Whatever you think the word means, the thing that ends up on the table is flexible, flavourful and easy in the same way tray bakes are easy for dinner. It’s also a great way to use up your stale bread so it doesn’t end up in the bin. This weekend put some things in a rectangular pan and the next thing you know, you’ve got a big, hearty breakfast and you’re set up for a successful day.