Sunday Morning Frittata

I love hosting. But sometimes on a weekend morning, after a few too many glasses of wine, it’s not so easy to throw together something fabulous. This is where the Sunday Morning Frittata literally saves the day!!! I’m going to give you the exact recipe for the last one I made (pictured above), but let’s understand something I am always trying to convey — USE WHAT YOU GOT!!!! (or what you like)! The frittata is a simple base for any combination of eggs, cheese and vegetables — and is PARTICULARLY delicious when you start with some fried bacon, ham or any type of breakfast meat 🙂 But let’s walk before we run with this beautiful vegetarian variation.

SHOPPING LIST: 10 eggs, white onion, frozen spinach, 2 tomatoes, milk, pesto sauce, olive oil, butter, garlic salt, pepper, shredded mozzarella, grated parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. The key to the perfect frittata is non-stick pan or skillet. I have been particularly loving my Zakarian Nonstick Cast Iron Skillet. Heat your skillet over medium heat and then add 2 tB. of olive oil and 2 tB. of butter. In the meantime, slice your white onion in half through the core, and then slice along the grain so you have a large pile of thinly sliced onions to add to your olive oil and melted butter. (In French cooking school, they teach you how to make French Onion Soup – shocking, I know. What I learned from this was 2-part. 1. They always used a blend of olive oil and butter for this purpose and 2. Never go above medium heat. The point is for your onions to slowly caramelize, not burn.) The key to the frittata being excellent is that the vegetables or ingredients that you incorporate within it are properly cooked, and as always, well-seasoned.

Short story: be patient with your onions. When they begin to become translucent, give them a quick season with some garlic salt and black pepper. When they are fully caramelized, you can add 1 cup of frozen spinach. **The only reason I used frozen spinach here is because I had it leftover from the Pancetta-Stuffed Mushrooms recipe** While your spinach is beginning to defrost in the pan, crack 10 eggs into a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of milk, a hefty pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and mix well. Next, add 2 cups of shredded mozzarella. (Sometimes I love using cubed FRESH mozzarella instead, or crumbled feta. You could go totally Greek with your frittata, switch it to a red onion, add some dried oregano and kalamata olives with your feta cheese. Once the spinach is nice and wilted into your caramelized onions, add 2 tB. of pesto (any brand of your choice) and really let that pesto melt and get incorporated into your vegetables. Now, increase your skillet to medium-high heat and pour the scrambled egg and cheese mixture directly over the vegetables.

Give the eggs and vegetables a QUICK mix so that the eggs can migrate to the bottom of the skillet and then LEAVE the skillet UN-TOUCHED for 5 minutes over the medium-high heat. Turn back to your cutting board and thinly slice your tomatoes. Lay the slices of tomato over the top of your frittata (I think I fit about 6-7 slices on mine!) and then cover the entire surface with your grated parmesan cheese. Finish with an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper and then pop the skillet into your 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. My favorite part — get a beautiful trivet and present your piping hot frittata directly in the skillet in which it was cooked and a beautiful cake knife for slicing.