Instant Italian Sausage & Egg Muffins - Smacafam
You can catch my show Instant Italian on Hulu for the step by step on this “hunger crusher” muffin!
Smacafam
acafam
Sausage Bread
This hearty casserole, with its unusual name, comes from Trentino. Converting from the local dialect, this means ‘scaccia fame:’ hunger crusher. Caloric and perfect for the cold winters of the Italian north, it’s a combination of pork sausage mixed with a cheese batter that bakes up into a puffed bread, perfect for slicing and eating after coming in from the cold. While recipes from Alto Adige prove to have more Austrian influence, the cuisine of Trentino leans toward Veneto. Once baked, it will be soft so resist the urge to slice in immediately. Best served at room temperature, it is cut into thick squares.
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: Serves 8-10
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced (1 cup, about 5-ounces)
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
½ cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 cups whole milk
2 eggs, beaten
8 ounces low moisture grated mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 baking dish generously with butter.
In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and break it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon or potato masher while mixing with the onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the sausage until no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, milk, eggs and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, The batter will be thinner than a pancake batter. Pour the batter into the buttered pan. Sprinkle the sausage mixture evenly over the batter. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the sausage.
Bake for 1 hour until middle is puffed and edges are golden brown. Allow the bread to cool for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
(Alternatively, you can make them as muffins and cut 20 minutes off the cook time)