Meatless Friday: Egg Casserole Two Ways

Breakfast for dinner is always popular at my house. Maybe it’s because I don’t make a big breakfast every day, or maybe it’s because “breakfast for dinner” rarely includes cooked vegetables. I’m not sure which it is, but I’m always happy that every one heartily eats when I make a dish like this. It’s just a simple bread and egg casserole, but it’s hearty even without meat, and perfect for a meatless Friday. It also happens to be timely with Easter coming up – you can pop one of these casseroles in the oven and time-bake it to be ready when you get home from Mass. Or, if you attend the vigil, which I’ll be doing as my future daughter-in-law enters the Church, I’ll make it Easter morning and have it ready before the kids even think about getting out of bed.

I made two varieties to share here, but you can add a lot of different ingredients to the basic recipe to make this casserole to your liking. On a Sunday morning you can add bacon or sausage. And for a meatless meal, you switching it up by adding sautéed mushrooms, spinach, peppers, onions – the possibilities are endless. I started with homemade bread, and I think using a good bread is important because there really is quite a bit of bread in this dish (making it budget-friendly, too), so choose a decent bread, or even some leftover dinner rolls to make it. And let the bread sit out for a bit to let it dry out, so it will soak up the egg mixture.

Deviled Crab Egg Casserole

¼ cups butter
4 cups bread, cubed and dried out a little (or use stale bread)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
4.25 oz. can lump crab meat, drained
½ t. Old Bay seasoning
½ t. salt
couple dashes pepper
½ t. dry mustard
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk

In a 2-quart casserole dish, melt butter (or add melted butter to dish). Add bread and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese, and then distribute crab on top. Poke the cheese and the crab into the bread a little with a spoon or spatula. Whisk eggs together in a medium bowl and then add milk. Add seasonings and whisk together. Pour over bread, cheese, and crab, and press bread down with a spoon to soak up egg mixture. You can cover and refrigerate overnight at this point or put it straight into the oven. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Bake casserole for 50-60 minutes. If you refrigerate it overnight you may need to bake it a little longer. Bake until egg in the center is cooked.

Serve with a fruit salad, or a green salad, and some sliced tomatoes.

Italian Three Cheese Egg Casserole

¼ cups butter
4 cups bread, cubed and dried out a little (or use stale bread)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½ t. Italian seasoning
1 t. salt
several dashes black pepper
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk

In a 2-quart casserole dish, melt butter (or add melted butter to dish). Add bread and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheeses, tossing a little with bread cubes to distribute cheese. Whisk eggs together in a medium bowl and then add milk. Add seasonings and whisk together. Pour over bread and cheese, and press bread down with a spoon to soak up egg mixture. You can cover and refrigerate overnight at this point or put it straight into the oven. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Bake casserole for 50-60 minutes. If you refrigerate it overnight you may need to bake it a little longer. Bake until egg in the center is cooked.

Serve with a fruit salad, or a green salad, and some sliced tomatoes.

Copyright 2014 Barbara Stein