Sausage Bread x 2

Recently I had a bunch of my friends over for "Breakfast at Tiffany's!" It was quite a hit if I do say so myself! The best part about it was that everybody brought some unique breakfast dish and we basically ate for a good three hours. Che bella!

One of the dishes I made was an experimental twist on one of my favorite Italian sides - Sausage Bread! When my family owned our Italian Deli in Vegas, my dad would roll out some leftover pizza dough, pile on some cooked, ground Italian sausage and cheese (and sometimes mushrooms) and braid the excess dough over the top. A quick brush of some eggwash and this thing was gorgeous! It tasted so good - hot, cold, or room temp - and was a great side dish to serve with pasta, soup, or even bring to a dinner party. Anyway, the thing sold like crazy. Everyone loved it, and I was trying to think of a way I could make this for breakfast.

Now, if my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was back home and all my Italian relatives were coming over, I would feel perfectly comfortable eating this savory Italian Sausage Bread for breakfast. But since I was dealing with my med-e-gone friends (i love you all, by the way), I figured I would go easy on their stomachs that early in the morning. SO what did I do? I made a rich breakfast sausage gravy and used that in the sausage bread instead!! It, too, was a hit, and was the prefect substitute for biscuits and gravy.

I encourage you to try both the breakfast and the Italian sausage variations, because they're both amazing. And there's so much room for improvement with this bread, so let me know your variations - I would LOVE to try them:)

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE BREAD

Ground Breakfast Sausage

4 TBSP flour

2 cups milk

1 egg, beaten

Pizza dough, rolled out thin

Fry the ground sausage until cooked thoroughly. Add the flour, one tablespoon at a time until absorbed. Then gradually add the milk, and cook until thickened. (NOTE: in a typical sausage gravy, you would add more milk to make more gravy. By reducing the amount of milk for this recipe, you create enough of a paste to hold the mixture together. This gives the gravy taste without the sloppy mess, and enables the mixture to stay together inside the bread.)

Spread the thickened gravy mixture over the middle of a rolled out pizza dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border on all sides. Cut diagonal strips on the sides of the excess dough, and fold over alternately until you have a braided effect on top.

Brush the top with the remaining beaten egg.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until golden.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE BREAD

2 lb sausage, removed from casing

1 lg block mozzarella, grated

1-2 TB grated parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

Pizza dough, rolled out thin

Fry the ground sausage meat until done, drain. Mix with grated cheese, shredded mozzarella, and 1 beaten egg. Spread over the middle of a rolled out pizza dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border on all sides. Cut diagonal strips on the sides of the excess dough, and fold over alternately until you have a braided effect on top.

Brush the top with the remaining beaten egg.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until golden.