Saturday, October 16, 2010

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...

...then Asif came by and pushed him off."


Eggs have had a bad rap over the last few decades.


News flash: They are not evil!  Just look at these heavenly cherubs.




Being a basic ingredient, they can be used in many dishes and recipes. One of my favourite ways to use them is for making a frittata, a.k.a. omelette or Spanish tortilla.


For those of you who have tried making this dish before, you will notice that recipes always calls for a large amount of fat, either in the form of butter or oil. I have found a solution to this problem; a ceramic-coated frying pan. (Yes, I've seen the infomercials.) This cookware allows you to fry without the use of any oil.



If you don't have a ceramic-coated frying pan, any non-stick frying pan will do with a light spray of oil.


Begin with cracking 5 large eggs into a mixing bowl.



In order for your frittata to be light and fluffy, you must beat your eggs until they are light and fluffy. (It kind of makes sense.) This process is very important and actually takes some time. The trick is to incorporate as much air into the eggs as possible. When you think you're done, beat it for another minute. Your eggs should look like the picture below:



Once beaten, your eggs will be ready to receive some ingredients. 


For this particular frittata, I decided to chop one onion and add some black pepper (1 full teaspoon) and a pinch of salt.



Anything can be added to a frittata. Try some of these ideas:
- shredded left over chicken or turkey
- potatoes
- zucchini/squash blossoms
- peppers
- mushrooms
- olives
- egg plant
- artichokes
- cheese
- etc., etc., etc...


Your frittata mixture is now ready to be cooked.


Hint: When using a ceramic-coated frying pan, make sure your pan gets hot before putting in the mixture.


Pour the egg mixture into your pan, and (this is extremely important) keep the heat at medium-low.



Cover your frying pan and let the eggs and vegetables steam in their own moisture. Cooking your eggs slowly, in this manner, will ensure that your vegetables/ingredients will be tender and cooked thoroughly. This process, again, we'll take a little time; around 15-25 minutes.



You will know that your frittata is ready when it puffs-up with steam.



Enjoy your fluffy, flavourful and healthy frittata for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack!


5 comments:

  1. have you ever tried a spaghetti frittata. it is soooo good. get the recipe from Zio.

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  2. I was always told to heat the pan, then bake the frittata, will try this recipe today!

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  3. Tried both "pan on stove" and "pan on stove, transferred to oven". The pan on stove method leads to a denser fritatta, the method finishing it in the oven leads to a fluffier one. Both lead to yummy fritattas.

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  4. Zia Cathy, I have made the spaghetti frittata, but I'd love to get Zio's version! I'll get it the next time we come over.

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  5. Omkhar, I'm so glad you tried it out! I will try the stove version the next time I make it!

    ReplyDelete