When you think of comfort food, most often than not, you’re thinking of a big ol’ bowl of soul-warming pasta. Spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna, the cheesier the better. Or maybe you’re thinking of fried chicken or pizza or even chicken pot pie. Those all are filed under comfort food in my book. I also think of breakfast for dinner because it reminds me of my childhood. There were days when mom really didn’t feel like cooking so she would cook up breakfast on a weeknight and we absolutely loved it, never realizing that it was her easy way out of cooking. One of my favorite breakfast dishes is biscuits and gravy. I’d order that sometimes when we went to a diner for weekend brunch. The other day I had this crazy idea of turning that classic Southern dish into a spectacular pasta meal. This Biscuit and Sausage Gravy Breakfast Pasta is the epitome of what comfort food should be. It’s carb on carb action and you need to make it the next time you just want something so satisfying and so guilty, and believe me, it’ll be just the thing you didn’t even know you wanted or needed.
Let’s start by making the biscuits. This is half a batch of my regular biscuit recipe. I’ve made them on the blog a few times, but I’ll refresh your memory just in case. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and baking soda.
**Tip: If you don’t want to go through the hassle of making biscuits from scratch, you could totally use those pop and bake biscuits in a can or just buy already made biscuits from the store!**
Add the very cold diced butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.
**Note: You don’t want to over work the butter too much. Try to be quick. You could use your hands or a pastry blender. Cold butter means flakier taller biscuits. If the butter gets too warm, it’ll just melt away into the baking sheet and your biscuits will be like hockey pucks.**
Add in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until everything is evenly moistened. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until it comes together.
**Note: Again, do not over-work the dough at this point. You want to try and work it as quick as possible.**
Roll out the dough to a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut with a 3-inch round biscuit cutter. You should get about four biscuits the first round. Rework the dough and cut out the remaining two, so you end up with six in total.
Place all six biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Bake until golden brown on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
**Tip: You can make them ahead of time and cool completely. Then pop into a large food storage bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Then just rewarm in the oven. I do that all the time. I’ll make a full batch (double this recipe) and freeze for later brunches or breakfasts. I love it!**
In the meantime, place a large saucepan over medium-high heat with the butter. Once hot add in the sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until crispy and no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add in the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper, if using, and cook for a minute or so longer.
**Note: I’m using a hot breakfast sausage, but you can use whatever kind you like. Mild, hot, sweet or breakfast or Italian all work! Chicken sausage or a vegetarian sausage would work as well.**
Stir in the all-purpose flour and cook for about 30 seconds to remove that raw flour taste. Stir in the chicken stock and milk and bring up to a simmer over low heat, making sure to stir as often as possible.
**Note: Traditional sausage gravy is made with all milk or half and half or cream, but I felt like that would be too heavy here with the pasta. So I decided to cut that heaviness with chicken stock and a smaller amount of milk instead!**
Cook until the sauce has thickened, and then season with salt, pepper, fresh sage, and parsley. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted through.
**Note: I know that Parmesan isn’t traditional in sausage gravy, but before you gravy purists out there get mad, I added it because of the pasta. You can’t have pasta without cheese…I mean, you could but why would you?!**
Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil and season liberally with salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once done, drain and add to the sauce. Stir until well-combined. You can give it a taste at this point and adjust seasoning as needed, adding more salt or pepper as you’d like. I love a super peppery gravy so I tend to go over board with it.
Serve the pasta in plates or shallow bowls and top each with a fried egg, sliced scallions, couple dashes of hot sauce (optional) and one of those biscuits you made (or bought) earlier. Take a bit and I tell you it’s like biscuits and sausage gravy but in pasta form.
I wrote this as a breakfast or brunch recipe but you know that I’m a sucker for breakfast for dinner. Especially on a Friday night after a long work week. This would be a delicious dinner idea, just throwing that out there for you.
If you want to cut some of the guilt, you can serve this with a healthy salad on the side or some steamed broccoli or green beans would be delicious alongside it as well, but sometimes you really just need a big bowl or plate of comfort am I right?
This is one of my favorite recipes I’ve made in a very long time, so I hope you’ll give it a try soon. It’ll be a hit at your house I promise. If you’re a fan of biscuits and gravy, then you’re going to flip for this pasta. I kept eating it after I shot it and wouldn’t stop, so you know that it’s good. Let me know if you have any questions or comments about substitutions. As always, stay safe my friends. I can’t wait to hear what you think.
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- ½ cup chilled buttermilk
- 8 ounces orecchiette pasta (or other short cut pasta shape)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 ounces hot or milk breakfast sausage
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes (optional)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups cups chicken stock
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon coarse cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 fried eggs
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- Hot sauce, for serving
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
- To make the biscuits, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and baking soda. Add the cold butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas. Add in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until everything is evenly moistened. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until it comes together. Roll out to a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut with a 3-inch round biscuit cutter. You should get about four biscuits the first round. Rework the dough and cut out the remaining two. Place all six biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Bake until golden brown on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil and season liberally with salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- In the meantime, place a large saucepan over medium-high heat with the butter. Once hot add in the sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until crispy and no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add in the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper, if using, and cook for a minute or so longer. Stir in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken stock and milk and bring up to a simmer. Cook until the sauce has thickened, and then season with salt, pepper, sage, and parsley. Stir in the cheese until melted through. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, stirring until combined.
- Serve pasta in plates or bowls and top with a fried egg, scallions, hot sauce and a biscuit. It's comfort food on a plate! Enjoy!
This is the best thing I’ve seen all day. I bow down to your genius.
I am in love with these mouthwatering pictures, will Surely try this at home