Frittatas (albeit not by that name) have been around for centuries, originating in Italy and Spain as open-faced, unfolded vegetable omelets. With most people living on farms, eggs were plentiful and so it is only natural that cooks would have used them in multiple ways. The word frittata derives from “friggere” meaning fried, a general term that referred to cooking eggs in a skillet. It wasn’t until the 1950s that frittatas were differentiated from omelets. Since then they’ve become very popular because the ingredients are inexpensive to buy and preparation is easy.
Despite this I’d never eaten one, nor even heard of them until I fell down the stairs and wrenched my left shoulder (of course because I am a lefty) which caused me to register an “8” on the pain scale every time I tried to move it. Friends and neighbors came to our rescue until I recovered. Evelyn, who lives across the street, introduced us to fritattas. She came over one evening with a pan filled with a golden circle of egg. The edges were charred and puffy. It was topped with glistening globs of melted cheese and sprinkled with herbs. It looked magnificent, smelled divine and tasted so so good. We were hooked. Google introduced me to many recipes, and I started to create some of my own. Here are some of my favorites
- Tomato, onion, spinach and mozzarella
- Leeks, kale, and parsley with fontina
- Asparagus with goat cheese
- Roasted vegetable sprinkled with parmesan
- Blistered green-bean and corn
- Bacon, onions (red, yellow, green), spinach or arugula, Swiss Recipe follows.
Ingredients:
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk or cream.
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 -3 cups of the onions, spinach or arugula
- 3 – four slices of crisp crumbled bacon
- 4 oz crumbed, grated, or diced cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- For garnish – chopped, torn, or sliced basil, parsley, chives, or a combination
Directions:
- Crack the eggs into a medium bowl, add the dairy, salt and pepper and whisk just until the yolks and whites are blended. Be careful not to over mix them.
- In a 10-inch cast iron or oven-save skillet add the oil and once shimmering add the onions and cook for a few minutes until soft.
- Add the greens and cook until wilted.
- Add the bacon.
- Wisk the eggs once more and pour over the filling. Stir briefly with a fork to combine and distribute the mixture evenly across the pan.
- Let the eggs set a little and then using a knife or small spatula, lift an edge of the egg and let the loose egg seep beneath. Keep doing this until the eggs are almost set but still moist in the center.
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the eggs
- Place oven shelf about 4 inches from the top; turn on the broiler and put the pan in the oven.
- Cook for 2- 3 minutes until the cheese is melted and edges are charred.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let fritatta rest. THE HANDLE WILL BE VERY HOT. WEAR OVEN MITTS.
- Add your garnishes, slice with a sharp knife and serve directly from the pan.
