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Run-up and Green Garlic Frittata with Salad and Bread

Collard Run-up and Green Garlic Frittata

Run-ups are the Eastern Carolina name for the flowering stalks of brassicas which are primarily grown for their leaves and or roots, such as collards, kale and turnips. Broccoli raab (AKA broccoli rabe and rapini) is a good substitute. Broccoli raab is actually a turnip cultivar that was selectively bred for run-up production over root and leaf production. Run-ups can be used in many ways. Here they are the star of a frittata.
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Equipment

  • 10” oven-safe non-stick skillet

Ingredients
  

  • 1 bunch run-ups about 8 oz
  • 1 green garlic stalk diced, see note
  • olive oil
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1-2 oz cream half-and-half or whole milk see note
  • 4 oz gruyere cheese grated, see note
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 325
  • Prepare the run-ups:
  • a. After rinsing and drying the runups, test the tenderness of their bases. Like asparagus, the bottom parts of run-ups may be stringy. Snip off a little piece and chew it to test. If it’s too stringy, cut off an inch and re-test. Repeat until you find where it becomes tender enough. Note, some stringiness is OK if you cut those sections with a finer dice than the more tender sections.
  • b. Dice the run-ups into about ¼” pieces, reserving the top 2.5” of each run-up whole.
  • Sauté the green garlic in the olive oil with about ½ tsp of salt on medium high heat. Use enough oil to make the green garlic glisten, but not have a pool of olive oil underneath. 1 tbsp should be plenty. Sauté, stirring frequently, until softened. Expect about 3-4 minutes.
  • Add the chopped run-ups to the pan. You may need to add another splash of olive oil at this point. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the run-ups are tender. Expect about 5-6 minutes.
  • While the run-ups sauté, beat the eggs with the dairy, ½ tsp of salt an a few twists of the pepper grinder.
  • Pull 6 of the prettiest run-up tops from the sauté pan. Evenly distribute the run-ups 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!). Place the 6 reserved run-up tops neatly at intervals, so one will be in the center of each of 6 slices. Place the first two at 12:00 and 6:00, then place at 2:00 and 8:00, and finally place the last two at 4:00 and 10:00.
  • 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 giggle 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 to much time is rubbery.

Notes

  • Green garlic is used here because it is often available at the same time as spring run-ups. A medium onion (6-8 ounces) and 2-3 cloves of garlic can be substituted.
  • For milk, cream or half-and-half; You are adding this for the milk-fat, not the liquid. It will enhance the creaminess of the final dish. The amount you add varies with the fat content. Use 1 ounce of cream, 1.5 of half-and-half or 2 ounces of whole milk. If only low-fat or skim milk is available, I’d just skip this addition. The result will still be fine, but less “creamy” than it could be.
  • I usually use a local cheese for a recipe like this. Chapel Hill Creamery Hickory Grove or Home Cheese, for example. I specify gruyere in the ingredients because it is fairly easy to find at the grocery. But many cheeses will work. Unsmoked gouda, asiago and swiss are other common cheeses that I would consider.
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