This keto italian breakfast casserole runs about 4 grams of net carb a serving and is built like an antipasto plate, Italian sausage, green olives, sun-dried tomato, and marinated mozzarella set in eggs and cream. No bread, no crust, no apology for being Italian.
I am so excited to report that my husband, dog and I will be moving in a month! I can't wait to have a kitchen with a gas stove and more storage. My little itty-bitty kitchen just doesn't have enough space for me and all my cooking gadgets. Since we are moving so soon I have made it my goal to slowly eat our way through the contents of our fridge and freezer. So this means getting creative with my Low Carb cooking. Today I decided to go Italian, because I feel it is important to constantly contradict the assumption that Italian food is off-limits to Low Carb eaters. A while ago I decided to purchase an enormous amount of mild italian sausage from Costco and that will get used up in this recipe. Similar to my very popular crustless pizza, this dish can be filled with an abundance of your favorite antipasto items. I chose green olives, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and my marinated mozzarella. Feel free to add marinated artichokes or pepperoni too.
An antipasto bake, not a bread strata
An egg-and-bread casserole is a strata; drop the bread and cook the eggs in a dish and you have something closer to an Italian frittata. That is the version that suits a low carb kitchen, so the flavor has to come from the filling instead of the starch. Building it from an antipasto board does the work. Green olives bring brine, sun-dried tomatoes bring a concentrated sweetness fresh tomatoes never reach, and the marinated mozzarella melts into soft pockets through the eggs. It tastes like the inside of a good Italian sub with none of the roll.
Cook the vegetables first so it does not weep
The one thing that ruins an egg casserole is water. Onion, mushroom, and raw sausage all give up liquid as they heat, and if that happens in the baking dish you get a soggy, separated layer at the bottom. Cook them all the way down in the pan first until the moisture has cooked off and the sausage is browned, then build the dish on top of that. Sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh keep more water out for the same reason. Bake until the center is set and no longer jiggly, which also brings the pork sausage safely through. There are more egg-based ideas in my low carb breakfast ideas guide.
Sources:
USDA FoodData Central, nutrient reference for eggs, Italian sausage, cream, and cheese
Sugarfreechic test kitchen, Italian breakfast casserole notes
