originally posted in June 2015
Home is where the cheese is. It’s also where you host brunch, and while I love cooking up a storm that requires me to use all 4 burners on my stove simultaneously, sometimes simple is best. And let’s be real – since gruyere is involved, simple just got fancy. Did I mention it can feed a small army?
Now do a little 20 min prep and then sip on your brunch cocktail of choice while the oven does the rest.
Ingredients:
Servings: 6-8
1-2 tbsp of olive oil 1 lbs hot Italian turkey sausage (or any sausage you want – I’ve mixed hot and sweet and it was glorious), casing removed 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped 3/4 – 1 cup of peas (estimating here – basically as many as look right in comparison to the other veggies and the sausage) One 1-lbs loaf of rustic french or sourdough bread (actually, do yourself a favor and mix breads!), cut into 1-inch-thick cubes 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (roughly 8 ounces) 6 large eggs 2 cups whole milk (skim or 2% are fine as well) 1 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 tbsp sliced fresh chives, plus more for garnish 1 generous pinch of your favorite Italian herb blend butter for greasing the pan salt and ground black pepper to taste additional crushed red pepper (depending on the spice of the sausage)
Directions:
Butter a 4-quart baking dish (basically one of those big disposable, aluminum dishes from the grocery store). In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the sausage – break the sausage apart as you stir. Once it starts to brown, add onion and bell pepper. Season with herbs, chili (optional), salt and pepper to taste. Cook, while stirring, until the sausage is cooked through and crumbly and the onions and peppers are soft. When it’s almost done, add the peas; they will defrost from the residual heat. Make sure the seasoning is on point – seeing that the sausage is already seasoned, it will provide a lot of flavor on its on.
Add the bread to the buttered baking dish. Stir in the sausage and pepper mixture (make sure you get every last drop of oil!) and the cheese, reserving a bit of cheese for the top. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, chives and some salt and pepper. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and stir together, to make sure it’s evenly distributed. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak for 30 minutes in the fridge. SO many good things happening right now.
Remove the casserole from the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake until golden and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 1 hour but keep an eye on it). Garnish with more chopped chives before serving.
And now you stuff your face.
Serving Suggestions:
Top this off with your favorite hot sauce or take it one gruyere-y step further and make a cheese sauce to drizzle on top of the casserole. To do so, start by making a quick rue (2 TBSP butter/2TBSP flour). Melt the butter and stir in the flower until it starts to bubble and turn the slightest shade of brown. Now whisk in a pint (~400ml) of heavy cream (not a good day to start a diet!) and continue whisking until it starts to thicken. It may take a little while to thicken, so feel free to take breaks whisking – slow and steady is the way to go here. Once it begins to thicken, whisk in about a cup of gruyere (there are no measurements in cheese – who are we kidding. Just add cheese until it tastes right. You’ll know.) and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. I like to mix cheeses in this sauce but I couldn’t tell you which cheese my #2 is. It changes each time and I leave it up entirely to the man behind the cheese counter. They know cheese. This sauce is by no means a must, but let me tell ya, it’s heavenly and if you choose to eat it by the spoonful, I won’t judge.
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