This is a recipe that we originally got from our friends, the Pences. We don’t tend to get together with them any more, but every time I make breakfast pie, I think of them and say a prayer for their family.

I have modified the recipe quite a bit over the years to account for my family’s preferences, but the basic framework is still the same recipe that they gave to us more than 10 years ago.

2 tubes of Pillsbury reduced fat crescent rolls (16 rolls)

1 whole egg

4 egg whites

1 package Jimmy Dean turkey sausage links (12 links)

8 oz 2% milk shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 green pepper

1/4 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Unroll the first tube of crescent roll dough and press it into the bottom of an ungreased 13×9 glass baking pan, then layer the second tube of dough on top of it.
3. Slice the green pepper into rings and layer them on top of the dough
4. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top
5. Blend all five eggs along with the oregano and black pepper in a separate bowl with a whisk
6. Drizzle the egg mixture on top of the shredded cheese
7. Slice the sausage links into small dimes and sprinkle on top of the whole pie
8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown slightly

Even with the focus on lower-calorie ingredients (reduced fat rolls, turkey sausage, egg whites, reduced fat cheese) this is still a relatively high-calorie breakfast. It’s dense, though, and very filling. A little bit goes a long way.

If you slice the pie into 12 pieces, then each piece will have about 225 calories (100 from fat) in a 115g serving size, yielding a calorie density of 2.0 calories per gram.

I actually make two different pies for my family, one for the kids and one for the adults. I modify the above recipe slightly for each one. Here is how I have adapted it:

Kids’ pie: I use 4 whole eggs instead of the egg white mixture quoted above, and I use closer to 10 oz of cheese (about 1 and 1/3 package). I don’t put green pepper or oregano on the kids’ pie, and I only slice up 3 links of sausage and sprinkle them on 1/2 of the pie, leaving the other 1/2 bare.

Adults’ pie: I use the remainder of the cheese (about 2/3 package or 6 oz.) on the adults’ pie. I also use the remainder of the sausage package: 9 links.

Here is a picture of the two variants that I make:

– danBhentschel