Pasta! It’s What’s for Breakfast!

People, I crossed a line. And there is no turning back. I made pasta for breakfast! Pasta has been my favorite food group for as long as I can remember. I can’t get enough of the stuff! All shapes, sizes, sauced, buttered, cold in salad or piping hot in soup… I have met very few pasta dishes I didn’t like. It would appear that I have passed this pasta gene on to my daughter. It was totally her idea to have noodles for breakfast! Mom was more than happy to accommodate such an innocent request!

Not long ago, I saw a post in my news feed for breakfast lasagna that sounded delicious to me. The only problem with breakfast lasagna is that my daughter has days when her food cannot be mixed together. She doesn’t go as far as the different foods can’t touch but it’s almost like she doesn’t believe they are the same foods if they are all mixed in one dish. Also, she’s hit or miss on if she will eat cheese. Cheese is more important in lasagna at our house than lasagna noodles so I decided breakfast lasagna will have to wait.

Two things that are always a hit here are bacon and sausage. Either one or both, I never have any left over when I make them for breakfast. Eggs go over pretty well too and I thought that egg yolk over pasta sounded like an excellent idea! As I was trying to put a plan together in my head, it became obvious that this was going to have an adult version and a kid’s version. Both have about the same ingredients but assembly was altered to accommodate our different tastes.

This is the kid's version; notice the lone noodle basking itself in the sun...

Oh, there was one other minor snag in my plan; I didn’t have any breakfast sausage, only plain pork sausage. So I had to whip up a little seasoning mix from a couple of recipes I read online. My whole family loved it! Possibly better than store bought! It had a subtler flavor than what I buy at the store and I liked that I knew exactly what went into it. Today, I just browned my sausage and left it as crumbles but I will definitely be seasoning my own again for patties.

Admittedly, this took longer to make that I typically like to spend on breakfast. My little man was withering away by the time breakfast was on the table and then he was shoveling it in his mouth with both hands. For next time, the sausage and bacon could easily be browned the day before and refrigerated, freeing up a ton of time in the morning. Other than that, you just need enough time to boil some spaghetti and fry a few eggs.

Spaghetti for breakfast will most definitely happen again at our house! Making little girl’s pasta dreams come true is an awesome part of my mom job!

Spaghetti Breakfast Bowl

(yields 4 breakfast bowls)

1/2 lb spaghetti, cooked per package directions and buttered

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 slices thick cut bacon, crisped and chopped

1/2 lb breakfast sausage, cooked (seasoning mix recipe follows)

4-8 eggs (depending on your appetite!)

Green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 4, oven safe, ramekins or bowls on a cookie sheet. In each bowl, layer spaghetti, shredded cheese, bacon and sausage. Bake for roughly 10 minutes to melt cheese and warm through.

While bowls are warming, fry 1 to 2 eggs per bowl. When eggs are cooked over easy or over medium, place on top of warmed spaghetti. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve immediately.

Breakfast Sausage Seasoning

(for one pound pork sausage)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp fresh sage, minced

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Dash ground red pepper

Dash ground nutmeg

Mix into raw pork sausage. Form patties or crumble and brown.