Weekend Fritatta

I love the smell of fritattas in the morning. Smells like... the weekend! My weekends usually start with sleeping in, eggs, and a trip to the weekly farmers market. My fallback weekend breakfast is the fritatta. I've never been able to fold an omlette and they always turn out as "scrambled eggs with stuff in them". The fritatta is much easier - no folding, normally finished off in the oven but for lazy souls like myself, can even be flipped with a plate, and finished on the stove.

I came across the fritatta about 18 months ago, which you can read about here. Since then, I have read 2 very convincing pieces on the benefits of eggs, one from a dermatologist & general expert for beauty magazines, Dr. Graf; the other from what I deemed a more convincing source, the Health section of the NY Times. The 2 sources both had recipes for healthy fritattas, which led me to the dish I look forward to all week, my weekend fritatta - the collection of everything I can find in my fridge.

Weekend Fritatta
1 small potato
1 tsp miced garlic
3 Tbsp prepared kale
3 Tbsp prepared spinach (can be substiuted by fresh baby leaves, if in season)
5 free range or organic eggs
4 seeded, chopped cherry tomatoes
3 sundried tomatoes
1 Tbsp capers, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp black olives, roughly chopped.
pecorino cheese
grilled red peppers for garnish

Wash potoato, do not peel it. Chop potato into pieces, place in pan with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, drain. Potatoes should still be hard.
Sautee garlic, as well as prepared kale and spinach. If using fresh spinach, do not sautee - reserve for later.
Mix sauteed ingredients with eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, capers. Pour into frying pan & cook, covered on low heat. If using fresh spinach, add spinach too the top of the egg mixture. After 10-15 minutes, small bubbles should form & the surface should look more solid. Slide fritatta onto plate, flip & continue to cook for a few more minutes, or until fritatta slides around the pan easily.
Grate pecorin cheese on top, garnish with roasted red peppers.

This is my fallback, but I make it on Saturday mornings before I get to the market, using whatever I have around. I often use frozen greens, sometimes I throw in some peas, sometimes some sauteed onions - it's breakfast, not rocket science. And it keeps me going for hours.

I'll be BlOgging this Omelet (see BlOg yOur Omelet). The prize is Iberian Ham, and even though I already have some, you can never have too much ham.

How I Learnt to Love Eggs

I never used to like eggs. Back in the day when eggs were the bad boys of cholesterol, I celebrated the fact that I would never have to eat eggs again. Then I slowly realized what the mistake was. Eggs do not need to be paired with bacon or anything else to cover up their taste. Eggs simply need to be good. Free-range, grain-fed or organic - all good eggs. These days, they are even viewed as healthy as well. Still, the appeal of the egg slightly evaded me until one December morning in London, Ontario.

After a long night, eggs are always a good way to wake up. So, one December morning, I picked the frittata from the breakfast menu. This frittata made me love the fluffiness of eggs; it made me see beyond "scrambled" and "over easy". It calls for asparagus, and as there was asparagus available in the supermarket yesterday, I recreated the eggs that started it all.

Frittata with Ham, Asparagus and Sundried Tomatoes

Cook 1/4 cup diced ham. Lightly blanch 5 stalks of asparagus.
Dice 4 sundried tomatoes. Add to 5 organic or free-range eggs & mix. Add 2 Tbsp water.
Pour into frying pan.
Cover & cook over low heat until it looks slightly solid.
Using a plate & circus skills, flip frittata.
Sprinkle grated cheese (pecorino or parmesan), cover and allow to cook until cheese melts.


In Italy, frittatas are not a breakfast dish. Indeed, many egg dishes, including quiches and omlettes are not eaten for breakfast in the countries of their origins. Leftover frittatas can be eaten at room temperature - just don't try to reheat them.