Frittata is a delicious dish you can eat for breakfast in the morning, or as a nutritious meal any time of the day. I usually make a huge one in a 15-inch cast-iron skillet and save some in the fridge for a few days–or try to save, as my friends somehow find out about it, probably because of my social media posts, and eat them all! I don’t blame them: Allen, my cooking mentor for the last 5 years, gathered information from a few chefs, including Melissa Clark from the New York Times, and others from “American Test Kitchen” and other TV shows (Sorry I can’t remember all of them; one of the shows has Jacques Pépin on it.) And this irresistible dish came out! By the way, I used a red bell pepper, but you can use any kind you want.
Ingredients:
Vegetables, 5 cups , blanched (see list below)
1 bell pepper, chopped, sautéed in olive oil for about 5 minutes
zucchini, 1, small grated
eggs, 8, medium, whisked
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
fresh herbs, 1/2 cup, dill, parsley and oregano
salt, 2 tbsp, plus 1/4 cup to blanch the vegetables
black pepper, 1 tsp
tomatoes, 2 cups, cherry plus other kinds, cut in half or quarters, for side salad
scallions, 3, chopped finely, to sprinkle on top
olive oil, 3 tbsp, to cook the frittata, plus extra for the tomato salad
Blanching the vegetables
asparagus
string beans
dandelion greens
broccoli rabe
Bring a big pot of water to a boil, add 1/4 cup salt. Blanch each vegetable at a time, as their cooking time varies, mostly taking from 30 seconds to a minute. No need to replace that water, naturally. Put them aside together in a bowl with cold water. Strain.
How to make it:
Once the vegetables have been blanched, the bell pepper has been sautéed, and the zucchini has been grated, it’s time to start the final process of our frittata. Heat a big skillet, or two small ones, with 2 tbsp olive oil on high heat for 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium, add all vegetables to char, which takes about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure they don’t burn.
At this time your eggs should have been whisked with grated Parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. Add the eggs evenly on top of the vegetables. Lower heat to the low setting on your stove, and make sure the eggs run to the bottom of the skillet by using a chopstick to poke holes in it before the frittata gets firm. . Cook for 10 minutes.
Turn oven broiler on, move rack to a high position. Broil for two minutes, or until the top get light brown.
Serve with tomato salad on the side.
SOPHISTICATED CULINARY by Lucas Eller
