Egg and Sausage Casserole

This year I thought I would try to come up with some fun foods to eat for breakfast on Christmas morning.  Since most of us can eat eggs, I decided to work on a dairy-free egg casserole.  (My sister-in-law also put in a request for something sweet with cinnamon, but I'm still working on that recipe.)  I think the breakfast sausage gives the egg casserole lots of flavor, even without the usual cheese sprinkled on top.  To make the casserole wheat-free and dairy-free, I used gluten-free bread and almond milk.  We'll see what the rest of our family thinks, but Michael and I found it quite yummy.

One important thing to note is that you need to start this casserole about 24 hours ahead of time.  The bread needs to soak in the egg mixture overnight for it to turn out as egg casserole perfection.  If you don't have 12 eggs, you could try using 10 eggs and 1 cup of almond milk, or 8 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of almond milk. 

Egg and Sausage Casserole
serves 10 to 12 people

Ingredients:

• 12 to 16 oz. breakfast sausage.  Jones All Natural original pork sausage and Jimmy Dean All-Natural regular pork sausage are the two brands I have found that are free of wheat, corn, dairy, and soy.
• 12 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain almond milk.  (Not vanilla-flavor!)  I prefer Blue Diamond Almond Breeze original.
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 6 slices of Ener-G tapioca loaf.  Or if you cannot find the tapioca loaf, use 5 or 6 slices of Ener-G brown rice or white rice loaf, depending on how many are needed to cover the bottom of the pan.  (The tapioca loaf slices are cut thinner.)

Instructions:  

The morning before you want to serve the casserole, take the tube of breakfast sausage out of the freezer to let it defrost in the refrigerator.  Then the evening before, cook the sausage over medium-heat in a large frying pan for about 10 minutes, breaking the sausage up into small pieces and stirring frequently, until the sausage is cooked and has begun to brown.  

Whisk together the eggs, almond milk, oregano, basil, ground mustard, sea salt, onion powder, and black pepper.  Cut the slices of bread into 1/2-inch cubes.  Liberally grease a 9x13 Pyrex pan with canola oil or olive oil.  Sprinkle the bread cubes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.  Pour the egg mixture over top of the bread cubes.  If any of the cubes remain dry-looking, press them into the egg mixture to coat.  Then sprinkle the cooked sausage in an even layer on top.  Cover the baking dish and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, take the dish out of the refrigerator.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  When the oven is hot, bake the casserole uncovered for 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle of the casserole comes out clean.  Let the casserole cool for a few minutes before serving.