Italicious

I sometimes forget about frittatas, I love them, they are so easy to make and so versatile. I haven’t made them very often since we have been living in Charleston, partly because I have so much more time for cooking, so instead of making quick dinners like a frittata and a salad, I’m stuffing zucchini and roasting chicken. The old reliable frittata has not been forgotten though.

My parents were visiting this past weekend and between a frittata, a carbonara, our Sunday morning scramble, and the 4 eggs that were cracked in the carton, we went through 2 dozen eggs. My family eats a lot of eggs, but my husband and I don’t anymore. When we first moved here my husband was scared of white eggs, so we started buying organic brown eggs, but he found something funny about those too, they were too liquid or something, so we are buying regular brown non-organic eggs now, but he complains about the way that they smell. After all of these trials, I’ve been making them less and less frequently, and enjoyed making them with my parents here when he would be less likely to complain.

Italians can be very difficult.

Frittata di Patate

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 6 eggs
• 4 basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a wide non-stick frying pan. Heat until it sizzles when you drop a piece of potato in it. Fry the potatoes until they turn a golden brown. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel lined plate. Salt to taste and allow to cool.

Add eggs, chopped basil, milk and parmigiano to a large bowl. Beat the eggs with a fork until they are well blended. Add the fried potatoes and blend into the egg mixture.

The frittata will be made in the same frying pan that the potatoes were fried in, with the same oil. The potatoes will have absorbed a good amount of the oil leaving only about 2 tbsp of oil, which is the perfect amount for a frittata.

Heat the frittata covered over medium heat, you don’t want to pre-heat the pan before adding the egg potato mix. After about 10 minutes shake the pan to make sure that it doesn’t stick. It should be well-browned on one side after about 15 minutes.

Place a plate on top of the pan and reverse the frittata so it falls onto the plate, you can also do this with the pan’s lid if it is fairly flat and not bowl-like. Slip the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side for about 10 minutes, until it browns.

Transfer the frittata onto a plate that is lined with paper towels to soak up the oil, sprinkle with salt and place paper towels on top, pressing with your hands to soak up any additional oil.

A frittata is good hot from the pan, at room temperature and even cold. Serve with a tossed salad on the side and crusty bread.

~ by italicious on May 18, 2009.

Posted in basil, eggs, gluten free, Liguria, potato, vegetarian
Tags: eggs, frittata, potato, vegetarian