Directions
You know, before this storm hit, I thought I’d stocked up on the right foods to get us through. But, now that I’m looking at pictures of the breakfast we had on Christmas morning again, I’m thinking I should have made one of these up and celebrated being shut in with some of our neighbors. Neighbors, I owe you a breakfast!
This dish may just be the best overnight breakfast casserole I’ve ever made. It’s so different from the rest, and as far as egg and bread concoctions go, seemed rather grown up. On Christmas morning, my parents and brother joined us for breakfast, so I whipped this up the day before so early morning Christmas could be spent enjoying presents and each other, and not spent in the kitchen. We were all blown away by how good this was.
The bread base for this dish is pretzel bread. I grabbed a couple of bags of pretzel rolls from the grocery store, chunked them up into bite sized pieces and allowed them to dry out overnight.
If you’re in a rush to make this and don’t have an extra overnight to dry out the bread, just lay it out on a cookie sheet, pop it into a 200* oven and let it bake for an hour. It won’t toast up, but it will dry out.
On Christmas Eve afternoon, I put the casserole together. First, I browned up some kielbasa on the stove top.
As it drained on some paper towels, I cooked down some thinly sliced onion and garlic in the drippings from the sausage.
Once they were softened, I transferred them to a bowl.
Then, I got my egg base together. This isn’t just a “beat some eggs and milk together and pour it over the top” kind of dish. There is so much flavor in the eggy portion of this recipe! I beat ten eggs, and then added to them some heavy cream, beef broth, a hefty dose of spicy brown mustard, fresh chives, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper.
Once it was all combined, I added the dried bread, and tossed the mixture with my hands until it was well coated. Then, I added the kielbasa, onion and garlic mixture, and some shredded Gruyère cheese.
It all went into my baking dish, and then into the fridge to sit overnight.
In the morning, I sprinkled the dish with some more shredded Gruyère, and popped it into the oven for about forty-five minutes, while we opened up presents, until the internal temperature was 160*, and the dish was set in the middle.
Our breakfast was so delicious, cozy, different, and hearty. Every ingredient added so much to the dish, that I wouldn’t change a thing next time I make it. It was just SO good.
When the next Polar Vortex rolls around, I’m definitely stocking up.
KIELBASA & PRETZEL OVERNIGHT BREAKFAST BAKE
Adapted from Cuisine at Home
- 1 lb. pretzel bread, cubed
- 1 (14.5 oz.) package kielbasa, halved lengthwise, and sliced
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 3 cups thinly sliced onions
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 10 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
- 1 tsp. chopped fresh Thyme
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 8 oz. Gruyère cheese, shredded, divided
- Cut up the bread and lay it out on a cookie sheet. Allow to sit out overnight to dry out.
- Prepare a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Brown the kielbasa in a skillet on the stove top, in the oil, over high heat, 3-5 minutes. Drain the kielbasa on a plate lined with paper towels. Leave drippings i the pan.
- Add the sliced onions and garlic to the pan, and cook until the onions have softened a bit, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, broth, mustard, chives, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add the dried bread, and toss to coat. (I used my hands.)
- Add the kielbasa, onion mixture, and half of the shredded Gruyère cheese to the egg-bread mixture. Toss thoroughly, and transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 375*. Take the casserole out of the fridge and allow to sit on the counter as the oven heats. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded Gruyère over the top of the casserole.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until the casserole is set, and the internal temperature reaches 160*F.
- Allow the casserole to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
- ENJOY!
