Recipe: Breakfast Meatza

By Uwbrooke

The past few weekends have been among the most intense weekends of my entire life.  Three weeks ago, I was in DC for an incredible girl’s weekend.  Two weeks ago, I made up for lost time at El Gaucho and started a new job (VERY exciting news that I’m so sorry I haven’t shared with you yet) during the same weekend that I became laid out with a terrible bout of the flu.  And then there was last weekend, in which I attended a family reunion, went to two birthday parties, hit up El Gaucho’s Super Bowl crew party, and made at least six separate attempts to save one of my best friends from herself… and failed each time.

Suffice to say that I have never been so happy to have Monday’s off as I was yesterday.  I don’t think I could have made it through a full day of work if I had tried.  I suffered from two distinct types of hangovers, which is becoming pretty standard now that I’m almost 30.  Not only do I suffer from physical hangovers, in which I am exhausted and cramped and bloated and headache-y, but also from a strange breed of hangover that is more emotional than anything else.  It wasn’t enough to physically feel like garbage. Now, hangovers are emotional as well.  All I want to do after a weekend of fun times is cuddle, cry, and watch The Bachelor.  I spent most of yesterday absolutely horrified at my emotional state – but couldn’t do a thing about it.  So I made this.  And ate most of it.  And felt a lot better about myself afterward.

Breakfast Meatza

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage (or Italian sausage)
1 c. spaghetti squash “noodles”
1/2 c. kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 c. roasted red peppers, chopped
2 c. fresh baby spinach
4 eggs, whisked
1/4 c. coconut milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Press sausage into an 8×8 baking dish (or pie tin) until it is even all around and comes up to the rim of the dish or tin.  Bake for 18 minutes, or until meat is just about cooked through.  You will notice that the meat shrinks just a little bit – this is totally okay!

2) While your crust bakes, heat a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add a few tablespoons of water and add spinach.  Cover and allow to wilt for a few minutes.  Remove from heat, drain spinach of all water, and set aside to cool.

3) Whisk together eggs, coconut milk and seasonings.  Add in kalamata olives, roasted peppers, spaghetti squash, and cooled spinach.  Make sure everything is mixed together well.

4) When the crust is done baking, drain and blot out any excess oil.  Pour the egg mixture on top of the meat crust, allowing it to spill over and around the crust where the crust has shrunk.  Place the dish back into the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes (mine took closer to 35 minutes to set).  Let cool just a bit and serve!

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people (or, one depressed, hungover chick)