We’ve just had the first of what seems an endless succession of long bank holiday weekends.
And one of the drawbacks of having friends to stay over, especially after a good night, if you know what I mean, is the morning after, when you have to drag yourself out of bed an hour or so earlier than everyone else to sort out breakfast.
All you really want to do is sleep, and sleep, and sleep.
The last thing you feel like doing is juggling frying pans, grill pans, toasters and kettles to ensure the perfect breakfast for your guests.
This is where this recipe is a godsend. All the good things about the great British breakfast- bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns and tomatoes, but done the night before, to allow you a relaxed easy morning, especially in your delicate state.
The hardest thing your brain needs to cope with is making a pot of tea and some toast. Cereal munchers can help themselves.
Just prepare everything the night before, place in a casserole dish and refrigerate. In the morning, pop in the oven, take the dog for a walk to clear your head, and by the time you get back, a hot breakfast is ready to serve to anyone who’s managed to make their way to the breakfast table.
INGREDIENTS
250g (about 12) frozen hash browns, thawed and shredded 150g mature cheddar cheese, grated 6 good quality pork sausages, skinned and crumbled 100g bacon lardons, or streaky bacon cut into pieces 6 large eggs, beaten with salt and black pepper 6-8 small tomatoes, halved METHOD
The afternoon before…….
With a little butter or oil rub the base and sides of an oven proof baking dish, approximately 20cm x 24cm.
Take the sausage meat out of the skins and crumble into pieces about the size of a marble. Fry with the bacon lardons (or streaky bacon) until golden brown and the bacon is going a bit crispy. Drain in a sieve to remove the fat that comes out of the sausage and bacon and pat dry with a piece of kitchen towel.
Grate half the hash browns and cover the bottom of the dish, followed by half of the grated cheese, then scatter over the sausage and bacon mixture.
On top of this, spread over the remaining grated hash browns and then pour over the beaten eggs making sure they are well distributed by pressing down with a fork.
Place the tomatoes on top, and cover with the rest of the cheese.
Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, while everyone else is sleeping off a good night, take the breakfast casserole out of the fridge and heat the oven to 200℃/180℃ fan while you walk the dog.
By the time you get back with the dog and the breakfast is at room temperature or thereabouts, bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes until puffed up, golden brown and set.
This gives you plenty of time to rouse your guests from their slumber and make the tea and toast etc.
Slice into squares and serve with ketchup or brown sauce, telling your guests you’ve been hard at it for hours while they were slowly re-entering the human race.