Easy, delicious, and can be made ahead for a one minute reheat in a microwave. Add a drizzle of hot sauce and you are all set. They keep well for up to four days. Each batch only requires ¼ pound, about 1 cup, of cooked ground sausage (some of which is the onion). Save even more time by browning enough pork to have 2 cups in reserve for 2 more batches (store each cup of the cooked ground sausage separately in the freezer). Our recipe makes 12 rounds; I used silicone muffin pans for easy removal but metal ones do just fine if greased.

I have never been much of a sausage eater although I have cooked plenty of it for my sons.  What I have come to realize over the years is that texture and freshness matter a lot. In other words, how were the pigs raised and what were they fed ? Pure Country Pork from Ephrata, WA is the finest pork I have ever put into a skillet. No surprise that their ground pork flies out of the meat case wherever it is sold (I get mine at PCC Natural Markets). They are the first sustainable pig farm in the United States to receive Food Alliance Certification that comes with sustainable farming practices. NO CORN FEED, free to roam with access to fresh water, separate birthing huts, and the piglets are housed with their mothers for 5-7 weeks. Price is $4.99 a pound, so in this recipe the meat cost is $1.33 for 12 egg sausage rounds.

I cook this recipe using unseasoned ground pork rather than sausage in casings (although you can always just remove the casings from your favorite uncooked sausage with the slit of a knife and brown it with an onion–the seasoning will be done for you). It’s cheaper to do my way, there’s no bread crumb fillers, and you can perfect and vary the seasoning by adding it after the pork is browned through with the onion–that way AFTER IT IS COOKED THROUGH, you can taste the finished product. Think of the ground pork as a little spot of protein in which to stash lots of flavor. I add regular paprika, tons, garlic powder, an earthy green flavor like in Italian seasoning or oregano, a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. And maybe a teaspoon of vinegar at the end to highlight the flavors. I like mine a bit on the spicy side.

Directions:
Brown the ground pork and after it is fully cooked add the above seasoning or whatever your fancy. Taste as you add the ingredients to your cooked pork, so you know when to stop for your palate. Paprika will make the sausage redder.

Turn oven to 375 degrees. Brush inside of muffin pans thoroughly with olive oil. If using a silicon pan, rest it on another metal baking sheet because silicone is wobbly and the egg filling will spill out as you try to move the tray.

Dice the medium green pepper (you should have about 1 cup). Chop the julienne tomatoes into smaller pieces (about ⅓ cup).

Into a large bowl, crack the eggs and give them a mix with a fork or whisk, adding a tablespoon of the milk, cream, or water. Mix in the peppers, tomatoes, and crumbled feta with a fork. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes, remembering that you’ve added some already to the sausage. You can always add more hot sauce on top of the finished rounds.

Again using your fork, lightly mix in the cooked sausage to the eggs. The paprika will make the egg mixture more red if you leave the sausage sitting in the bowl very long; to have brighter color add the egg/sausage mixture to the muffin pan and cook it right away.
Take a small measuring cup ( I use ⅓ cup) and scoop up the egg/sausage mixture and add to each muffin cup. My technique is to scoop from the bottom of the bowl. You may need to even out the pork distribution with a fork after all the cups are filled (like redistributing the chocolate chips in your cookie dough before your bake each pan). It’s easy to move the sausage around and see if any of the cups are too empty of any of the sausage or other ingredients.

Bake on the middle rack of your oven for about 20-22 minutes. I check mine at about 15-18 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your muffin rounds and your oven.

Make sure the egg has set but don’t overcook. They begin to pull away from the sides of the silicone pan and are easy to remove. ( If using metal pans let the rounds partially cool for a few minutes then remove all of them at one time so they don’t stick) . Serve with additional hot sauce if you like.

Let egg rounds cool before refrigerating. Cupcake liners are useful for stacking the cooled egg sausage rounds into space-saving vertical containers like this quart to-go one from my PCC Emerald City Salad. If you have any extras, and didn’t eat them for breakfast, bring several to work in a thermal lunch bag to share with a friend. Refrigerate on arrival and pop in microwave for a tasty, healthy, fast lunch.