Organic Recipe Friday: Frittata

Meal in a Box?

One of the delights of participating in community supported agriculture is not knowing what food you’ll get from week to week. One box from your farm may contain bok choy, broccoli, garlic scapes and other goodies. And another may hold cherry tomatoes, shallots, eggplant and more. These welcome surprises can inspire delicious experiments, and one experiment is to put everything together in one dish without a visit to the farmers’ market to supplement your ingredients. Every once in a while, you find yourself with everything you need to make a very happy meal.

The ingredients in the frittata I made recently didn’t all come from one box, but they all came from my farm. (I hope that’s not cheating!) I’m not the biggest fan of potatoes so I held onto the ones I got until I had three varieties, plus some tomatoes, little red onions and hot peppers, a bell pepper, fresh garlic (so juicy!) and basil. This year, I also signed up for an egg share from the Hard Bargain Farm, which among many other things raises happy chickens in a chicken tractor. Therefore: frittata.

Frittata With Potatoes and Tomatoes

Serves 4

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Two to three cups thinly sliced potatoes (considering using a variety of potatoes, such as French fingerlings, All Blue, Mountain Rose)
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (one medium or several very small)
• 1 thinly sliced green pepper
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 hot pepper, seeded and minced (include a few seeds for a small kick)
• 2 medium-small seeded, chopped tomatoes
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sliced basil
• Black pepper

Heat two tablespoons of oil in nine-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Saute potatoes for a few minutes, then add onion. Stir often and cook until potatoes are golden, just starting to brown. Add green pepper, garlic and hot pepper. Cook for about three minutes, then add tomatoes. When tomatoes soften and green pepper is bright green, stir in basil and black pepper, remove pan from heat and put vegetables in a bowl. Beat eggs in another bowl. Let pan cool and wipe clean.

Return pan to stove. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, return vegetables to pan, and pour in eggs. Push vegetables around for a few seconds to allow eggs to spread to bottom. Cook for about five minutes, watching eggs to see when they look set. When set, turn off heat. Slide utensil around the side of pan and underneath vegetables to separate food from pan. Invert large plate over skillet and flip over. If your frittata comes out cleanly, breathe a sigh of relief (mine stuck). If it doesn’t, don’t fret. Just scrape off what stuck. You may want to add a drop of oil to the pan before turning heat on again. Return frittata to pan (so the side that had been in contact with the pan is now facing up) and cook two to three minutes more. When done, slide frittata onto plate. After it cools a minute, slice into quarters. Delicious with a bit of grated Parmesan.

Photo Credit: Flickr CC User (& Author) bornOKthefirsttime