It was still 96 degrees when I got home a little after 7:00 tonight. I have these lovely vegetables and gorgeous eggs, and virtually no desire to do anything that requires heat or will be served hot. With the arrival of a dozen more eggs, though...I had to do something. A frittata seemed in order. While it does require the use of both the stove top and the oven, it goes relatively quickly.
Here's how I created my dinner this evening:
6 1/2 eggs (half, you may ask? well, these are farm eggs, and one of them I cracked funny and lost some of the yolk in being stuck to the eggshell - you can use 6 or 7)
3 Tablespoons basil, chiffonade (roll the leaves into cigars, and slice across the roll to create strips)
1 Tablespoon oregano, chopped
1 baby onion, sliced thin into discs
2 garlic scapes, bulb and soft stem sliced thin
1 inch of a cylinder of
salami, sliced thin and slices quartered
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
olive oil
Prep all of your ingredients. Put the sliced/chopped herbs aside. The garlic scapes, onion and salami can be together too. Have the ingredients ready to go!
Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet/frying pan - mine is a 9 inch pan - that can go in the oven (specifically, under the broiler). Put over medium heat and add scapes, onion and salami. Stir occasionally and let cook down a bit. The salami will render fat into the pan, and the onions and scapes will soften and smell lovely. This part takes about 6-9 minutes, depending upon how high your heat is.
While the scapes, onion and salami are cooking down, crack your eggs into a bowl and stir them together to make a homogenous mixture. My farm fresh eggs make a thick, glossy and sunny mixture!
When the salami, onion and scapes are cooked sufficiently (getting a little golden), remove from heat and use a spatula or spoon to remove most excess fat from the pan. Set pan down, still off heat, and gently pour in eggs. Use spatula to stir salami, onions and scapes into eggs.
Place pan back on medium heat, and occasionally swirl the pan. You can also use the spatula to lift the edges every now and then, allowing the uncooked egg to run along the edges. After about a minute of cooking, add the herbs and stir into egg. Then add parmesan and stir into the egg mixture as well.
Now you should turn on your oven's broiler.
At this point, let it cook over medium heat,
occasionally swirling the pan and lifting the edges with a spatula. Once the edges are set and only the top center is still runny, which took about 7-8 minutes for me, remove the pan from the heat on the stovetop and put it in under the broiler.
Leave it under the broiler until the top of the frittata begins to turn golden brown, which took three minutes for me. USING A POTHOLDER remove the pan from the oven. Ensure your stovetop and broiler are off, too! Let the frittata cool for about ten minutes.
Golden goodness.
Once it has cooled a bit, use a spatula to loosen the frittata from the pan, and remove to a plate. At this point you can cut it into slices and serve, or let it cool further.
Frittata!
I served mine with some fresh salad greens, lightly drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with a quick grind of pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Hot weather dinner.
There is leftover frittata; I cut it into slices too, wrapped each loosely in waxed paper, and stored it in tupperware in the fridge. This could be breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow - and tomorrow it'll require NO heat!
