How To . . . Make a Frittata

Hello again fun friendly food fanatics.  Today I'm starting a new semi-regular feature I simply call "How To".  My restaurant reviews and new product reviews aren't coming as quickly as I had imagined they would so I have decided to add this new feature.  Eventually I hope to evolve this into doing "How To" videos as well but for now we'll just see how things turn out.

So Wednesday night I was watching Master Chef (oh yeah .... it's back!) and during their first "Mystery Box" challenge they were given basic simple ingredients to work with to come up with a dish.  Three people in the competition made Frittatas and one actually ended up being a top 3 dish.  Personally I've never made or had a Frittata and it looked fairly simple so I got curious and looked up how to make one.  The thing I really like about Frittatas is that you can put virtually anything in them and leftovers made great choices for ingredients.  I also like that since the basis of a Frittata is cheese and eggs, you can easily make this Gluten-Free. My wife has Gluten sensitivity and gets sick when she has Gluten so this is important to me.

So here we go with my first "How To" blog post.  Please leave comments about ingredients you think would be especially good in a Frittata or about Frittatas in general.

How To . . . Make a Frittata

Choose 3-4 of the following:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 roasted red pepper, diced
• 1-2 cups broccoli
• 1-2 cups cauliflower
• 1-2 leeks, diced
• 12 ounces mushrooms, diced or thinly sliced
• 1 cup leftover pasta
• 1 cup leftover rice
• 1-2 sausages, diced
• 1 cup shredded chicken, pork, or beef
• 1 cup tofu, diced
• Any other leftovers you may have in the fridge

Seasoning Ingredients:

• 1-3 teaspoons spices, like oregano, basil, thyme, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt

Frittata Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
• 6-8 large eggs, enough to cover the ingredients

Equipment:

• 10" - 12" oven-safe skillet*
• Spatula

*If you don't have an oven-safe skillet you can transfer the vegetables to an 8x8 casserole dish in step 3 and continue from there


Instructions

1.  Heat the oven to 400°F.

2.  Sauté the Frittata Ingredients: If the meat is raw, cook that first and then remove it from the pan to add back in later. Cook the vegetables with a little oil over medium-high heat, starting with the longer-cooking veggies like onions and potatoes and ending with softer veggies like red peppers. Add any meat or tofu and cook just enough to warm through.

3.  Season the Vegetables: Since the vegetables will be mixed with eggs, you want to over-season them a bit here. Add whatever seasonings you wish to use along with a half teaspoon of salt. Let this cook for a minute, then give it a taste. It should taste strong, but still good. Add more spices or salt if needed.

4.  Add the Cheese: Spread the vegetables into an even layer on the bottom of the pan (or casserole dish). Sprinkle the cheese on top and let it just start to melt.

5.  Add the Eggs: Whisk the eggs together and pour them over the vegetables and cheese. Tilt the pan to make sure the eggs settle evenly over all the vegetables. Cook for a minute or two until you see the eggs at the edges of the pan beginning to set.

6.  Bake the Frittata: Put the entire pan (or casserole dish) in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the eggs are set. To check, cut a small slit in the center of the frittata. If raw eggs run into the cut, bake for another few minutes; if the eggs are set, pull the frittata from the oven. Cool for five minutes, then slice into wedges and serve. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for a week.