prep 30 minutes bake 35 minutes at 350°F stand 5 minutes
- 1 1-lb. Italian or French baguette (unsliced) (12×4-inch)
- 4 oz. sweet or mild Italian sausage
- ⅓ cup chopped red or yellow sweet pepper
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- ½ cup snipped fresh basil
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup shredded Fontina, mozzarella, or provolone cheese (3 oz.)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Using a serrated knife, cut a wedge into the top of the loaf, cutting to about 1 inch from each long side. Use a spoon or your fingers to carefully remove the inside of loaf, leaving about ¾-inch shell. (Save interior bread for making croutons or use in meat loaf.) Place bread shell in the prepared baking pan.
2. Remove casing from sausage, if present. In a large skillet crumble and cook sausage with sweet pepper for 8 minutes or just until sausage is cooked and pepper is tender, stirring in the green onions the last 1 minute of cooking. Remove from heat; drain off fat.
3. In a large bowl combine eggs, cream, basil, and salt. Stir in sausage mixture and ½ cup of the cheese.
4. Carefully pour egg mixture into bread shell. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until eggs are set (160°F). Let stand 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut loaf into slices.
number of servings 5
per slice 490 cal., 23 g fat (11 g sat. fat), 245 mg chol., 977 mg sodium, 45 g carb., 0 g fiber, 1 g sugars, 20 g pro.
HEALTHY CHOICE
To reduce fat in this egg bake, use turkey sausage; 1¼ cups refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed; and part-skim mozzarella cheese.
FLEXIT
Omit the meat yet keep the meatiness. Substitute 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms for the sausage. Shiitake or portobello mushrooms are especially good. Cook them in 2 tsp. olive oil along with the sweet pepper.