Maple Sausage and Waffle breakfast Casserole

Here are my complaints about the typical breakfast casserole: too egg-y, soggy, boring, and not delicious. I decided to be brave and try this one from Cooks Illustrated magazine. Joy, joy, joy! This is our new Christmas morning tradition. Sweet, salty, cheesy, wonderful. And as long as you leave yourself a little prep time the night before , it's easy too.
Ingredients

6-8 frozen Eggo Home Style Waffles
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
12 ounces Maple Sausage (pork or turkey)
6 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375-degees and toast waffles on a baking sheet on both sides for about 10 minutes. Brown sausage until no longer pink and drain on paper towels. Coat an 8 X 8 inch square baking dish with non-stick spray or butter. Arrange 4 waffles in the bottom and sprinkle with half the sausage and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat layer, with remaining waffles, sausage and 1/3 of the cheese. Wisk eggs and milk in a bowl with the syrup, salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the waffles layers. Cover with plastic wrap and set a weight on top. (I used another square pan set on top of the plastic wrap, with canned food set in the empty pan.) Refrigerate over night or for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325-degrees, uncover casserole, add remaining cheese and bake 45 to 50 minutes until edges are puffy. Cool 5 minutes and serve. Serves 4-6.