Recipe: Simple Frittata

Our fridge is not always full. In fact, when we do a ‘big shop’ or have our shopping delivered every now and then we tend to eat like gluttonous, greedy kings for a day or two and then slowly begin to wonder ‘What’s left?’ and piece the spare bits together to make the rest of the ends meet – a trait I’m sure a lot of us are guilty of when the fridge is bountiful.

It’s useful to know that when you’ve got little in the fridge, or just the store cupboard essentials and one or two superfluous items, that you can make a meal. Eggs are fantastic for those trying times when you’re two key ingredients short of a recipe, or when you have no time to be inspired and frugal with your food. There’s scarcely a household that doesn’t buy a carton of eggs each week, without fail. As Russell’s mother taught him growing up, ‘When you’ve got eggs in the house, you’ve got the makings of a meal’…

This frittata/Spanish tortilla recipe is fantastic for when you need a quick, filling meal from nothing, and it can even be adapted and bigged up for entertaining by chucking in some chorizo or bulking out with beans or vegetables. This serves four, so it’s perfect as a mid-week supper for two, with a little portion each for lunch the next day, or it’s great as a dinner party starter. You can bulk it out into a main, served alongside some salad and warm bread and oil.

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized potatoes, skin on and sliced
• 4 medium free-range eggs
• 2 medium white onions, sliced
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 courgette, sliced into rounds
• a handful of fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 tbsp soured cream, double cream or creme fraiche
• Parmesan (or vegetarian hard cheese)
• butter and oil
• seasoning and some fresh herbs (we like sage, and chive to finish)

Method

1. Turn the oven on to 180°C and very lightly oil a roasting tray and roast the courgette for 25-30 minutes until they’ve leached almost all their water and begun to get a golden glint.

2. Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling water, par-boil the potato slices for about 3-5 minutes so they’re just soft. Drain and keep to one side.

3. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the medium, heavy-based frying pan until foaming and add the onions and garlic. Turn the heat down lower and sweat for at least ten minutes, seasoning with salt at the start to stop them sticking. Halfway through add a dash of cider or wine vinegar and some chopped sage and cook out.

4. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl with the creme fraiche and season well with salt and pepper.

5. Drizzle a little oil on the potatoes and reintroduce them to the onions in the pan, combining both and flattening in the pan together. At this point the courgettes will be done, so arrange them on top of the potato mixture, followed by the raw slices of mushroom.

6. Pour over the egg mixture and tip the pan to ensure the egg coats all around the pan evenly.

7. Pop the frying pan into the already pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

8. Coarsely grate some fresh parmesan atop the omelette generously. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes, cranking the heat up to 200°C to brown the cheesy top.

9. Take out of the oven, allow to cool for five minutes before finishing with a little cold-pressed rapeseed oil or balsamic vinegar, a handful of fresh, chopped chive and a crack of fresh black pepper. Portion into four, and serve.

This frittata is fantastic eaten warm from the oven, or you can easily have it a few hours later at room temperature with a fresh salad. We love making this when it’s warmer and we eat in the garden with a glass of chilled white wine and some other tapas or cicchetti-style dishes to share.

This frittata is fantastic eaten warm from the oven, or you can easily have it a few hours later at room temperature with a fresh salad. We love making this when it’s warmer and we eat on the balcony with a glass of chilled white wine and some other tapas or cicchetti-style dishes to share.

You can make this your own by adding whatever vegetables or meat you have available to you, as this vegetarian recipe is just a base to jump from. You can even chose Pecorino instead of Parmesan, or go for a softer cheese on top if you like it meltingly gooey.

Let us know if you cook this for yourself! For a different glimpse of our flat,  take a look at our recent interiors post – Goodbye E15, Hello SE15. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook too…