Simple eggs can be elevated in an omelet, but that takes finesse. They can be elevated in a quiche, but the amount of cream and cheese required is surprising. Frittatas are in the middle, simple with modest amounts of cream and cheese. They work for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I prefer them for dinner, with a side salad and some crusty bread with a good olive oil to dip the bread in.
Frittatas can be made with myriad ingredient options. Swiss chard, supported by onion and garlic aromatics, is one of my favorites.
The recipe in photos
Swiss Chard Frittata
This frittata recipe is quite versatile. While it specifies Swiss chard as a main ingredient, the chard can be replaced with any number of greens or other vegetables.
Equipment
- 10” oven-safe non-stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Swiss chard (10-12 oz) stems diced, leaves chopped (see note
- 1 medium yellow onion (6-8 oz) diced, see note
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- olive oil
- 8 large eggs
- 2 oz cream see note
- 4 oz Gruyère cheese grated, see note
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325
- Sauté the onion and diced chard stems in olive oil with about ½ tsp of salt on medium high heat. Use enough oil to make everything glisten, but not have a pool of olive oil underneath. About 1 tablespoon should work. Sauté, stirring frequently, until softened. Expect about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the pan, and sauté for another minute or two.
- Add the chopped chard leaves to the pan in a few batches. Sauté the first batch, stirring by lifting from the bottom and placing on top, until the first batch is wilted enough to make room for another batch. Continue until all of the chopped chard is wilted and cooked. Expect about 6-8 minutes.
- While the chard sautés, beat the eggs with the cream, ½ tsp of salt and a few cranks of the pepper grinder.
- Evenly distribute the chard and onions in the pan and pour the egg mixture over. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top (don’t skimp at the outer edge!).
- Transfer the pan to the pre-heated oven and cook until done. Expect 20 minutes, but check at 15, and re-check every few minutes after. There should be no jiggle if you shake the pan. A toothpick test can reveal if there is any runny egg. You are going for a custardy egg. Too little time is runny and too much time is rubbery.
Notes
- Chard stems are stringy, like celery. But, if you dice them up, the strings are cut short. The diced stems work great alongside the onions and garlic.
- The greens should be chopped rather finely, say 1" pieces. You want the final frittata to be easy to cut with a fork. Rough cut greens will get in the way of this.
- The cream is to add milk-fat to enhance the creaminess of the final dish. You can use half-and-half, or whole milk if you don't have cream. If you only have 2% or skim milk, just skip the dairy. The frittata will still be good, but it won't be as custardy as it could be.
- I usually use a local cheese for a recipe like this. I use Chapel Hill Creamery's Hickory Grove or Home Cheese. I specify Gruyère in the ingredients because it is fairly easy to find at the grocery. But many cheeses will work. Unsmoked Gouda, Swiss, or a young Asiago are other common cheeses that I would consider.
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