Baby Spinach & Tomato Breakfast Casserole

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What do you do when you wake up at 5:45 in the morning really hungry? Like so hungry you can't go back to sleep but you don't want to be standing by the stove making breakfast kind of hungry.
PS: this excludes folks who keep cereal at home and enjoy having it in the morning.
Me, on the other hand, I don't enjoy sweet stuff so much in the morning. I'd rather have idli or dosa or puttu or idiyappam or any of those nice savoury things. Toast & eggs are always welcome too! But all of the above requires being near the stove and really who wants to do that early in the morning. 

Which is when you say hello to casseroles. The easiest breakfast in the world where all you need to do is shred some bread, add in some veggies of your choice, whisk a couple of eggs in milk, throw it all in a dish and bake for half an hour. If your stomach can wait for half an hour that is.
Mine does wait, cos the end product is so good and feels so indulgent while not being really indulgent at all. How could it be? All you've done is changed around toast and eggs to a casserole. Perv that I am about toast, my toast probably takes more effort on the stove than this.


To add a little more sparkle to this plain dish, I drizzle some extra virgin olive oil before baking and well, while serving. I'm extra indulgent about olive oil these days. You can use any kind of spice mixture - pepper, chilli flakes, za'atar and probably even add a chilli sauce to the custard mix if you're so inclined. I'd add sausages and other cooked meats if I feel like having a meaty casserole. There actually is no recipe for a casserole. Or atleast the kinds I make. All you need to remember is a ratio of 2 eggs to 1 cup milk. I also occasionally go for 1 egg for 3/4 cup milk, but then that takes longer to cook. Today 2 eggs to 1 cup milk works. You could also use cream instead of milk or half milk and half cream. Whatever floats your boat. 



For this recipe I used a 7" x 3" baking dish. And it serves one really hungry person. It can also be stretched to two not so hungry people.

Ingredients

4 slices day old bread shredded by hand
2 handfuls baby spinach torn
1 large tomato sliced

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Extra EVOO & chilli flakes to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C
2. Shred the bread and evenly distribute in a baking dish
3. Top with spinach and tomatoes. Toss around if you want it evenly distributed. I just layered them.
4. Whisk eggs, milk, salt & pepper in a bowl
5. Gently pour over the bread mix and let it spread it evenly.
6. Press down on the mix from top with a spatula and let the bread soak up the egg mix.
7. Let it rest for 5 mins (if you have patience)
8. Drizzle olive oil on top
9. Bake in oven for 30-35 mins till the egg mix has set but is slightly jiggly.
10. Slice up to a plate, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil & chilli flakes
11. Serve!

Voila! Breakfast ready.
The best part? You could also make this in advance and warm it up when it's time to eat. Wooohoooo!!!

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