Erik-e-strata... get it?

I cannot take credit for the name of this. The lovely Kara Vicalvi was nice enough to inform me of what this dish would be considered in the culinary world, and after hearing it, Matt got the word "strata" stuck in his head. "Strata, you know, like ERIK E-STRATA!". What a gem.

The roots of this come from something that I will never eat again, but really missed. Growing up, every Christmas morning my mom would make us an egg, bread, sausage, and cheese casserole. It wasn't Christmas without it. For a while, as a vegetarian I ate eggs and cheese, so it was easy to just substitute veggie sausage. This year was our first Christmas in our new house and I felt it was necessary to make a vegan version of my mom's classic. It came out well then, but I think this one will take a few (or ten) tries to master. Here's my second:

You need to make this the night before, so plan ahead!

1 Small loaf of day-old french bread
1 cup daiya cheddar, divided
1 package vegan breakfast sausages (patties or links both work)
1 package (or 1 lb.) silken tofu
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbs nature's seasons seasoning
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbs dried rosemary
2 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs grape seed oil

Break up bread into bite-size pieces and line them onto the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.

Cut breakfast patties or sausages into small pieces and saute with the rosemary and oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or per instructions, if frozen. Coat with maple syrup and mix well. Saute for another minute and layer on top of bread.

Cover bread and sausage with 1/2 cup of daiya cheddar.

Whisk tofu until smooth, then add vegetable broth and whisk until it's as smooth as possible. Note: this might look curdled and slightly gross- It's not!! Add nutritional yeast and seasoning and whisk until combined. (Afterthought- I imagine a blender would work just as well)

Pour tofu mixture over bread, sausage, and cheese, and give the dish a little shake so that it seeps in everywhere.

Layer the remaining cheese on top.

Let set in your refrigerator overnight.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour- until the edges are brown- and let sit for about 10 minutes once out of the oven.