My parents, like many others, often liked to mention events or stories from their childhood. I was quite impatient and a terrible listener and most of them probably went right over my head as my mind focused on more urgent, relevant concerns in my own life. As I’ve grown older, now living much more independently, I feel a greater sense of curiosity of their childhood, their upbringing – What personalities did they have? Did they face the same decisions and struggles I did? How as their early married life?
While there is so much I do not know, one of the rather fun stories I do happen to remember is my dad’s fun story of him traveling alone from a province in China visiting an elderly family member. Back then, they were poor and transportation was not advanced as it is today therefore requiring him to sit long hours on a bus to get to his destination. My dad grew up as a little cute chubby child who loved to eat. His relatives provided him a dozen of hard boiled eggs to enjoy all the way home. He said he ate ALL 12 eggs on that bus journey. My father often tells this story with much fondness and pride – it was shared as a fun joke to get me and my sisters to eat more eggs.
While I do not think I could eat a dozen eggs in a day, I do however love eggs – scrambled, boiled, steamed, baked…I think I do get it from my father 🙂 Eggs are definitely a staple in my home and so I’m always looking for something new to try! I am especially loving this Italian casserole – which essentially is a one pan egg bake stuffed with marinated ground turkey and vegetables. It is not only delicious, but also nutritious and absolutely a dream to have in the fridge for a quick ad easy lunch throughout the week. You can use sausage here but we wanted something slightly leaner and accessible from my fridge – so ground meat it is. Using a little bit of baking soda and letting the meat marinate for 20 mins you get this amazing bouncy, chewy texture that resembles sausage. Genius!
I love that this is so versatile as well. You an add in any vegetable of choice. After experimenting with a few types here is some of our favorite combos:
- Red bell pepper, broccoli and “sausage”
- Sun dried tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin and “sausage”
- Tomatoes, Kale, Onion, Broccoli and “sausage”
You can really make this with whatever vegetables you have left on hand, however I do recommended selecting from a variety of colors and textures to make extra tasty!
- 12 eggs
- ½ cup milk / water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 lb Italian Sausage (see recipe below if homemade)
- Vegetables: (you can also add whatever you want)
- ½ red or green bell pepper, diced
- ½ lb of broccoli (fresh or frozen) chopped roughly
- Others: 20 grape tomatoes, ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, ½ onion, Handful of spinach/kale
- Homemade "Italian Sausage":
- 1 lb ground turkey (93% lean; you can also use ground chicken or pork)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- For the Italian sausage, mix all the spices into the ground meat. Set aside for 15-20 mins. (Do not go more than that otherwise the texture will become too mushy)
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x 13 inch pan or line with parchment paper.
- Meanwhile, chop all the vegetables into small pieces.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk/water and salt together.
- After 15-20 mins, in a small heated pan, add marinated sausage. Cook until browned, breaking up into small pieces as you stir. (you want them in small pieces). Remove from heat and mix into the chop vegetables.
- To assemble, add your vegetables and sausage filling in the 9x13 inch. Make sure you drain off any grease or water before putting it in. (you do not want your casserole watery)
- Pour the egg mixture over the casserole evenly.
- Bake for 30-35 mins until it is set.
- Cool for 30 mins, then divide into 12 portions. You can enjoy right away or store in airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.
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