Tater Tot Sausage Casserole

I've written about this before, but it irks me that there are food bloggers out there who quite obviously, once you attempt their recipe, never actually made it themselves or else they are just immensely stupid.  Case in point with this recipe, inspired by a website called thesouthernladycooks.com.  This is an enormous casserole, easily able to feed six hungry people, using two pounds of Tater Tots, two pounds of sausage and nearly a dozen eggs, yet the author steadfastly insists all of this and more will fit into a 9" x 13" baking dish.  Balderdash!  I had to change cooking vessels mid-stream, and altered the recipe to add more eggs. You need a 10" x 15" Pyrex casserole dish at the very least, the kind that is just 2" high.

Tater Tots have an interesting history, having been introduced to the public in 1954 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, the same year that hotel opened.  Tater Tots literally started the Ore-Ida company as a means to use leftover slivers of potatoes created during the production of French fries.  It is a story of pure capitalism, making two Mormon brothers immensely rich once the company was purchased by Heinz in 1965 for $30 million, which would be over a quarter-billion dollars in today's money.  There is nothing more iconically American than a Tater Tot.

This is an all-in-one breakfast casserole requiring little else for a hearty, satisfying meal, but I served some blueberry muffins to my overnight guests as a little something to nosh on while waiting out the 75-minute cooking time. I also used Jimmy Dean pre-cooked sausage crumbles to make my life all that much easier. You can substitute 2 16-oz rolls of sausage, crumbled, cooked and drained if you want to go to the trouble.

Ingredients
32-oz bag of Tater Tots, frozen with no need to thaw them
3 9.6-oz bags of pre-cooked sausage crumbles (like, Jimmy Dean)
1 cup whole milk (or substitute 3/4 cup 1-2% milk and 1/4 cup heavy cream)
10 eggs
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup (like, Campbell's)
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (either mild or sharp as you prefer)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam Butter-Flavored) 

The Recipe
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F or 365°F in altitudes above 5,000 feet.

Treat a 10" x 15" Pyrex casserole baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the Tater Tots, sausage, and both shredded cheeses.  Toss to combine and put the contents into the baking dish.

In the same mixing bowl, whisk the eggs together until blended.  Then, add the soup, milk, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper.  Whisk again to combine all into a homogeneous blend.  Pour the mixture over the Tater Tots, sausage and cheese mixture.

Shake the baking dish to even out the ingredients and ensure the egg mixture is thoroughly combined with the dry ingredients.

Bake uncovered in the top 1/3 of your oven for 65-75 minutes or until the eggs have set.