Leftover Breakfast Skillet

When you're on the last week of using up whatever you have in your freezer and pantry before going full-out grocery shopping, meals can be all struggle. Often enough though, with a well-stocked pantry, you can easily make a meal with what you have available without having to go to the store to buy anything else. I love doing this to minimize food waste; using up literally everything in the fridge and freezer before spending a single penny at the store. It's also a great way to get creative with what you have on hand.

Because honestly, how many times have you gone grocery shopping just to come home to put things away and you realize that you already have bags of what you just purchased? It happens and it sucks. Storage space is taken up, you've wasted money, and now you have another chance of possibly wasting food if you don't use what you have. With this recipe, I found a way to use half-used bags of frozen vegetables, convenience items, and things I keep stocked in the fridge at all times. Waste not, want not!

Leftover Breakfast Skillet

Cook Time: 35-40 minutes

Serves: 4

Olive oil

2 Savannah Sausage Company Sweet Vidalia and Uncured Bacon smoked sausages, cut into half moons*

2 cups frozen pepper and onion blend

Kosher salt

Black pepper

1 tbsp granulated garlic

1 tbsp paprika

6 cups frozen tater tots

4 large eggs

Fresh chives or parsley, for garnish

*Use whatever kind of sausage you have on hand. You could also use ground sausage or diced bacon if you prefer that instead.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

In a large cast iron skillet, or oven-safe skillet, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Over medium heat, render down the sausage until it starts to crisp up. Cook for about 8 minutes. Next, add the frozen peppers and onions and stir well. They'll release a lot of water because they're frozen so you want to cook them for about 5 minutes or until most the water is evaporated. Season them with the kosher salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika.

Once the water has fully evaporated, add the frozen tater tots and stir them to combine with the sausage and vegetable mixture.

Then, place the skillet in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes have passed, remove the skillet from the oven and create four small holes in the mixture with the back of a spoon. These holes are where you're going to crack the eggs. Once you crack an egg into each hole, season the eggs with a little dash of kosher salt and black pepper. Put the skillet back into the oven and finish roasting for another 11 minutes to cook the eggs through. I prefer jammy egg yolks instead of them being completely cooked, so 11 minutes is my go-to for 'hard boiled' eggs.

Remove the skillet from the oven and place on a heatproof board or trivet. Garnish with fresh chopped chives or parsley and more black pepper. Enjoy with some nice, crusty bread and large mug of your favorite coffee.

¡Buen provecho!