Sausage Garlic Cheese Grits Casserole

Good Morning!  Are you up for a casserole?  This is considered a breakfast dish but guess what?  We in the South have breakfast morning, noon, or night!  

One of my first jobs was in an office with a lady named Eleanor.  She talked of a casserole that she would prepare the day before and bake on Christmas morning.  She was always so excited because all of her family would be home. They all enjoyed this dish. This isn't her recipe, I don't remember the ratio of ingredients but she told me what was in it.  At that time she used a special garlic cheese. I've not found any of that so I improvised with cheddar and garlic.

We had this today for brunch and I thought I'd have to remove Chuck from the kitchen!  He just kept eating it.  😄

Today sharing a memory in a recipe!  

A Small Casserole

Ingredients

One 16 oz.  package of ground Sage Jimmy Dean Sausage

3 eggs beaten

1/2 cup quick cook grits 

1 cup water

1 cup chicken broth 

1/2 cup whole or 2 % milk

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic minced finely

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grate the cheese separate saving a small handful for topping the casserole

Brown the sausage with the minced garlic, drain if needed, and set aside

Put water broth and salt into a large saucepan bring to a boil.  Add grits stirring to prevent lumps turn the heat down to medium stirring/whisking until thickened.  This won't take very long so whisk/stir and watch.  Remove from heat.

Add 3/4 of the grated cheese to the pot,  reserving the rest as a topping or you can just add it all to the pot. Stir to melt the cheese into the grits. 

Next, add the sausage into the grits pot, then add the milk stirring/whisking to cool a little then lastly add the beaten eggs stirring/whisking them well into the pot.

Spray or coat lightly the baking dish with oil

Pour contents of the pot into baking dish 

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Let stand at least 5 minutes to allow for setting and serve.

Serves 6 to 8

Substitutions

• For Chicken Broth: You may substitute  water 
• For Sage Sausage:  You may substitute regular breakfast sausage just add 1/2 teaspoon dried sage or 1 tsp fresh sage
• For Sharp Cheddar you may substitute medium cheddar or cheese of your choice, just add 1/2 tsp. dry powdered mustard or use yellow mustard one small squirt.

Optional Additions

• A few chopped mushrooms
• A small amount of finely chopped onions
• A few chopped bell peppers or hot peppers your choice

I baked mine in a 2 1/2 quart oval CorningWare dish and still had plenty of room for more.

Enjoy!