Cheezy Baked Breakfast Potatoes

This is my spur-of-the-hungry-moment version of the "Outstanding Cheezy Potato Bake" recipe on VegWeb (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=24587.0), which is basically a veganization of the old-school potatoes au gratin many of us grew up eating. We were completely out of onions (?!), so I substituted leeks and scallions; since there were a couple of Field Roast  sausages hanging out in the refrigerator, it seemed like a good idea to throw them in, too. I also increased the amount of nutritional yeast, added some chili powder, and upped the milk:nooch ratio to make it a little "saucier." On the whole, it turned out really well (and was actually quite amazingly "cheesy"): an excellent brunch for a lazy Sunday. I'll give it another go when I have some onions on hand, but I can definitely recommend it just as it is here. 


Cheezy Baked Breakfast Potatoes
Ingredients
~ 6 medium potatoes, sliced in very thin rounds (about 1/8" if you can manage it)
~ 1 tbsp. olive oil
~ 2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced  
~ 2 Field Roast (or other brand) Italian sausages,  cubed
~ 4 large scallions, thinly sliced  
~ 2-3 tbsp. margarine (I use Earth Balance)
~ Salt and pepper
~ 1 tsp. marjoram
~ 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
~ 1 3/4-2 cups plain, unsweetened nondairy milk
~ 1 tsp. chili powder
~ Paprika for garnish   


Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit, and grease a baking dish or casserole.
~ In a beaker, whisk together the nutritional yeast, milk, and chili powder, and set aside.
~ In a skillet, cook the leeks in the oil over medium heat until softened; about 5 minutes.
~ Raise the heat to medium-high, add the cubed sausage, and cook another 5 minutes until browned. 
~ Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the greased baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and 1/2 tsp. of marjoram.
~ Layer the leek and sausage mixture on top of the potatoes, then sprinkle with half the chopped scallions and dot with about a tablespoon of margarine.
~ Pour half of the nooch/milk mixture over the whole mess, then layer on the remaining potatoes, sprinkle with the rest of the scallions, the other 1/2 tsp. of margarine, and more salt and pepper.
~ Cover with the remaining nooch/milk mixture, dot with another tbsp. of margarine, sprinkle with paprika, and bake uncovered at 450 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour,  or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce is browned and bubbling.