BACON, EGG, AND CHEESE CASSEROLE

SERVES 8

SKILL LEVEL: EASY

COOK TIME: 50 MINS.

PREP TIME: 30 MINS.

COST: $

Bacon, egg, and cheese on a biscuit always calls my name when I’m at a drive-through. That thought gave birth to this casserole. It’s really perfect to serve for Sunday breakfast when you have people staying over. I start with your basic biscuit with some chives and cheese baked in. They need to be small, about the diameter of a golf ball. Then you layer in lots of bacon and lots of cheese and top with more biscuits. Finally, add the eggs and let it sit awhile so all the ingredients can get to know one another.

CHEDDAR CHIVE BISCUITS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup chives, chopped

¾ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

CASSEROLE:

1 batch Cheddar Chive Biscuits

1 pound bacon, cooked and chopped

½ cup Cheddar cheese, grated

6 large eggs

1½ cups milk

½ cup chives, chopped Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE CHEDDAR CHIVE BISCUITS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 °F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined. Into the dry mixture, cut in chilled cubes of butter. Texture should resemble small pebbles. Pour buttermilk over mixture, fold in chives, and gently stir to combine. Pour mixture out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead mixture just until dough comes together. Roll out dough to ⅓-inch thickness. Using a 1½-inch ring mold, cut out biscuits. Repeat process; be careful not to over-knead dough. Top each biscuit with Cheddar cheese. Place on a prepared baking sheet, bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown.

FOR THE CASSEROLE

2. Lower the oven to 350 °F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Halve all biscuits. Place a single layer of Cheddar Chive Biscuit halves (the bottoms) into the casserole dish. Cover the biscuits with cooked and chopped bacon. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the bacon layer. Place biscuit tops over the cheese. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, chives, salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over biscuits. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, allowing the egg custard to absorb into the biscuits. Bake, covered in foil, for 35–45 minutes until set.

Cover up

I bake this in a medium oven and always cover my casserole with tin foil so that the eggs don’t get too brown on top. You want a nice custardy interior.

Carla’s vegetable rule

When you add vegetables to a casserole—and you certainly could to this one—remember that vegetables are mostly water and you don’t want a soupy casserole. You need to chop vegetables so that they are the same size (meaning they will be uniformly cooked) and cook them before you put them in the casserole. That way they have given up their water and your casserole holds together.