Sausage Veggie Cornbread Casserole - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb bulk pork sausage
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
1 large bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 (10 ounce) package frozen okra, thawed (NOT breaded okra!)
Topping
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal (see Self-Rising Cornmeal)
1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat oven to 425\u00b0F. Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan.
In a large skillet, crumble sausage and cook till well browned, about 8 minutes, stirring often. Pour off excess fat, leaving a scant amount (1 teaspoon or so).
Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to browned sausage. Cook until tender, stirring often.
Stir in peas, tomatoes and thyme. Cook just until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Gently stir in okra.
Pour into baking pan.
Make topping:
Either: Mix up 2 packages of your favorite packaged brand.
Or: Combine the listed topping ingredients in a medium boml. Stir until smooth. Don't overbeat.
Spoon topping into pan around edges of sausage mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.