The OEconomist

I think I first made a frittata when I was living in Melbourne a few years ago. Call it 2006. I can’t believe I never did it earlier, because it’s exactly the sort of thing I love: the eggy goodness of quiche, without the fiddliness of making a crust, and cooked mostly on the stovetop.

My frittata recipe is more a set of guidelines, so here’s the overview:

• Beat 6 eggs and a slosh of milk with a fork.
• Add whatever flavourings appeal to you: salt, pepper, herbs, etc.
• Mix about 2 cups of main ingredients, stirring just enough to make sure it’s all evenly distributed.
• Drop a little butter in a pan and melt it, making sure it coats all around and up the sides.
• Put the egg mix in the pan and cook on a medium heat til it’s about as done as it can be without burning the bottom. The top will still be runny, but you should be able to lift it at the edges to have a look underneath.
• Sprinkle cheese on top, if that sort of thing appeals to you.
• Put it under the grill/broiler to cook the top. It’s done when it doesn’t wobble and if you cut a slit in it, you can’t see any liquid egg/milk mix.

This time round, my flavourings were thyme, pepper, and a little finely grated gruyere cheese. My bulky ingredients were an onion that’d been chopped and caramelised, and some sliced cooked potato (I used 5 small potatoes, covered and microwaved for 4 minutes, then sliced and cooled to just “warm” before mixing with the eggs). I added more gruyere on top before the broiling stage.

Other things I sometimes put in my frittatas:

• bacon, ham, or some other kind of meat or fish (eg. tinned or smoked salmon)
• spinach or (even better) sorrel, washed, microwaved briefly, excess liquid squeezed out, and chopped
• most vegies will work well as long as they’re not too watery: baked pumpkin/squash, corn, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, leeks, etc.
• throw some sour cream into the egg mix, or dollop it on top
• mix up the cheese options: sliced chevre, crumbled feta, etc.
• I’ve seen recipes that use leftover pasta instead of potatoes but I haven’t tried them

I’ve put the other three slices away in the fridge to be work lunches or perhaps easy breakfasts. The thing I love about frittatas like this is that they are a mix of carbs and protein and basically make a meal with the addition of a salad or side veg.