2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 loaf 10-day old French bread (~6 cups), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 lb bulk hot sausage
1/2 teaspoon sage, dried
1 teaspoon rosemary, dried
2 lbs canned sweet potatoes, drained
2 cups canned evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2/3 cup diced pimientos, drained
1/2 stick salted butter, cubed into small pieces
Preheat oven to 375oF.
Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Add the bread cubes to the baking dish. Spread the cubes evenly in the prepared baking pan. Set aside.
In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat into small clumps.
Cook sausage until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a large mixing bowl, discard the fat. Add the sage and rosemary and stir to combine.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, eggs, cinnamon, chili powder and maple syrup until smooth with no lumps. Season with salt and pepper.
Use a large serving fork to mash the mixture together until homogenous and the eggs and milk are incorporated throughout. Add the sausage and diced pimientos to the sweet potatoes.
Pour this combined mixture over the bread cubes and mix with a large fork to make sure each piece of bread is coated.
Dot the top of the bread pudding with the cubes of butter.
Bake for one hour or until puffed and golden brown. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
