Saturday, October 5, 2013

You say Frittata, I say Mediterranean Frittata

Good Morning World! The weather here in Austin is finally starting to get out of the 100s and into the 80s and 90s. It doesn't sound like that big of a difference, but trust me, it is. I have been able to cut down on my electric bill considerably, leave my windows open, and finally enjoy some time on my porch. I even bought a basil plant and a mint plant. There is every chance that these plants may die soon, because I have the opposite of a green thumb.

This morning, I woke up and wanted something delicious. I was thinking a lot about our friend Lauren, I grew up next to her kids and actually was their baby sitter for a long time, I always think of them as my family because that's what we really became to each other over the years. Lauren always made the most delicious frittatas when I lived with her and her daughter in Charlotte, NC after I graduated from college. A good frittata (to me) is fluffy yet firm, cheesy, and has some sort of veggie with in it, and sometimes, bacon. Lauren used to make all different kinds of frittatas - my favorite was mushroom. I really like it when food and memories are one in the same.

So today, I decided to try my hand at a Mediterranean Frittata. I was looking at recipes earlier and there can be a million different ways to make the frittata fluffier, cheesier, fancy as hell, or kid friendly. I decided on a Mediterranean frittata because I have some great little potatoes right now (some are purple!), kalamata olives, garlic, FRESH basil leaves from my plant outside, fresh spinach, chard, and kale, and good cheese. This is also a good way to save some food in your fridge that you don't want to freeze but need to eat.

Morgan's Mediterranean Frittata
8 large eggs
3/4 chopped fresh basil leaves (dried basil leaves will NOT work here) 
1 stick of butter (you can reduce this is you want, but butter does make it pretty amazing) 
1-2 cups of chopped mini potatoes (or 4 red potatoes cubed/chopped) 
1/2 kalamata olives 
2 cloves garlic 
1-1.5 cups of cheese of your choice (I chose Monterey jack and 3 blend parmesan) 
1-2 cups of kale, spinach, chard blend 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne (a pinch of two, unless you want a lot of heat) 
** you can also add some chopped onion, but that is up to you**

Finished Product: 
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn


Directions: First, you want to choose an oven safe pan for this - I am using my cast iron skillet. If you don't have these, you can use a baking dish and just transfer everything over to the oven safe dish.

Second, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Next, you want to melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the pan and throw in your chopped potatoes (sorta like making hash browns) and cook/sauté those for about 10-15 minutes. Then you can add the leafy green mix (kale, spinach, chard) and the garlic into the pan and give it a good mix and let it get in there.

While that is cooking, you will want to combine the eggs, salt, pepper, baking soda, and basil and whisk until blended. Then add about 2/3 of the cheese you want to use. Melt the rest of the butter in the microwave or on the stove, and then finally, add this to egg-cheese mixture.

Next, you will want to add the egg mixture over the veggies in the pan. Add the remaining cheese on top and pop it in the oven for about 45-min to an hour, depending on how your oven routinely cooks things.



It will raise up while cooking and sorta puff out slightly. To see if it's done, you can put your knife in the center and it should come out clean (nothing sticking to it).

Viola! Mediterranean frittata!








(oven shot/action shot) 

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