So your parents came to town this weekend. Yes, you were excited to see them, but let’s not forget the best perk of visits from the folks: free food. Now that mommy and daddy are gone, you’re back in the kitchen, trying to remember what a spatula is.
Put that kitchen they’re paying for to good use this week by using the money you saved over the weekend to hit Whole Foods and cook a delicious meal. And what better way to spend your parents’ money than on frittatas?
A frittata is basically a quiche without the crust, which means it’s equally tasty with half the prep time. Here’s my version of a French-style frittata:
In a large skillet, sauté one cup each of chopped asparagus, sliced white button mushrooms, diced onions and quartered artichoke hearts. You can buy the artichoke hearts in your supermarket’s canned food aisle. Just make sure to buy the ones packed in water, not oil. Sauté the vegetables over medium-high heat with two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of butter and four cloves of finely chopped garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
While the vegetables are cooking, whisk eight eggs, ¼ cup of milk and season with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the skillet once the onions become translucent and the asparagus is fork-tender. Although you may be tempted to futz with it, leave the mixture alone — you don’t want to serve scrambled eggs! Let it continue to cook until the eggs have started to set. Once the edges appear to be cooked, place the entire skillet in a 400 degree oven and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the frittata has puffed up quite a bit, but is still a pale yellow color. Remove the frittata from the oven and top with grated gruyere cheese. Place the frittata back in the oven for about another five minutes, until the cheese has fully melted and the frittata is a golden brown color.
To serve, slice the frittata like a pizza. Frittatas can be pretty filling on their own, so don’t worry too much about side dishes. A salad with a light vinaigrette would be a great complement. Try this one:
Combine baby spinach leaves, sliced white button mushrooms (to echo the flavors in your frittata) and sliced pears. For the vinaigrette, whisk lemon juice, honey, olive oil and salt and pepper, then toss with the salad. The measurements of the ingredients will depend on your taste buds. Figure twice as much olive oil as lemon juice and use the honey to cut the acidity from the lemon juice rather than to sweeten the vinaigrette. And voila! A simple side in minutes.
If you really want to make it a hearty meal, serve roasted potatoes as well. I like red bliss potatoes because they are easy to chop and great for roasting because of their thin skin. First chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and place in a roasting dish. Coat with a liberal amount of olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever dried herbs you have on hand. Chop a substantial amount of garlic and add it to the mixture. Toss the whole mixture to fully coat the potatoes and place in your already preheated 400 degree oven. The potatoes will take anywhere from 40 minutes to one hour to cook. Check after 30 minutes and continue to check every 10 minutes thereafter. The potatoes will be done when they are fork-tender and look crispy and golden brown. I promise, just one bite of these potatoes and you will be hooked. They’re easy to make and an instant crowd pleaser!
Maybe next time your parents are in town, you can take a break from your annual Pete Miller’s trip and treat your parents to some home-made frittatas. If they’re paying 50 grand a year for you to skip 9 a.m. Calculus, you can afford to drop a little cash on them. If you mess up, maybe you’ll score a fancy steak dinner.