Frittata Mother Dish Technique
A frittata is a versatile egg casserole. Think of it as a less fussy cousin to the quiche, with less fat and no crust. Since you can make a frittata with fresh, seasonal ingredients any time of year, it qualifies as a mother dish. This recipe is an outline for any number of unique variations.
Equipment
- 10” oven-safe non-stick skillet
Ingredients
- 12-16 oz fresh, seasonal vegetables
- 1 medium yellow onion (6-8 oz) diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- olive oil
- 8 large eggs see note
- 2 oz cream see note
- 4 oz cheese grated
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- If the vegetables are or include greens, remove the stems from the leaves and finely dice the stems to be cooked with the onions.Sauté the onion 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 seasonal vegetables to the pan and sauté until properly cooked.
- While the vegetable sautés, beat the eggs with the cream, ½ tsp of salt and a few cranks of the pepper grinder.
- Evenly distribute the vegetables in the pan and pour the egg mixture over. Give a quick stir to suspend some of the vegetables off the bottom of the pan. 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. Timing will vary for various reasons. Other than the true oven temperature, the biggest variable is the amount of seasonal vegetables that are in the pan. As they have just completed cooking, they hold a lot of heat. The more of them, the quicker the cook. Start checking for doneness after about 10 minutes. 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
- If you have access to duck eggs, use 6 duck eggs instead of 8 large chicken eggs. The larger yolk to white ratio that duck eggs have makes an indulgent frittata.
- 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.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!