Frittata

[RETREVR]

I make them for banquets. I cheat and use a half sheet that I preheat, pour in about 24 eggs, let set up and then add my flavors. Last one was wild mushroom, spinach, and fresh mozarella.

As far as cream goes. The notion is always that cream will make nice fluffy creamy eggs. I use a bit of cream because I was told to. But, I don't buy it. Try making two batches of scrambled eggs. One with water and one with cream. I think the water makes a better product. Eggs are rich enough without cream, and the water gives great texture.

[fifi]

I agree about the water in the scrambled eggs. What I am looking at here is maybe trying for that custard quality as in a quiche. As Chufi said, you start getting too big on a straight egg fritatta and the cooking time could lead to leathery eggs. Unfortunately, when I am making a fritatta it is precisely because I need to cook up a bunch of stuff for ravenous young folk in one fell swoop. I usually am using my big frying pan with a lid, slow oven, a quick run under the broiler to melt cheese added to the top. Maybe I should just call it a "crustless quiche" and get out of the fritatta business altogether.

[TGTyson]

I agree about the water in the scrambled eggs. What I am looking at here is maybe trying for that custard quality as in a quiche. As Chufi said, you start getting too big on a straight egg fritatta and the cooking time could lead to leathery eggs. Unfortunately, when I am making a fritatta it is precisely because I need to cook up a bunch of stuff for ravenous young folk in one fell swoop. I usually am using my big frying pan with a lid, slow oven, a quick run under the broiler to melt cheese added to the top. Maybe I should just call it a "crustless quiche" and get out of the fritatta business altogether.   

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Then again, you can always do what I did last night for dinner and mix the potatoes, eggs, cream, cheese and herbs up in a large bowl, and then put it into individual 6 oz or 8 oz ceramic ramikins and bake them in the oven (convection in my case) while I cooked up the last of a batch of homemade sausage I had on the stove.

One thing I've learned to do is to place the ramikins on a deep baking pan in an inch and a half or so of HOT water to moderate the heat so as to allow the top cheese to brown without turning the contents into so many hockey pucks.

Oh, by the way, for potatoes I used some of the Tater-Tots we were discussing here the other day. They worked really well.

Edited November 15, 2004 by TGTyson (log)

[Pam R]

It is time for a frittata revival. I like serving them for brunch if there's a crowd around - and of course, they're perfect for using up the bits and pieces that tend to accumulate in the vegetable crisper.

They're good with potatoes in them, but I prefer the potatoes oven roasted and crisp, served on the side. Today's New Year's frittata included red onion, green onion, mushrooms, butternut squash, cauliflower, garlic, parley, basil, feta cheese, salt, black pepper, 8 large eggs and a couple of splashes of 'coffee' cream (18%).

The vegetables (with s&p) were softened in butter and olive oil - then the garlic and herbs were added for the last couple of minutes. Mixed the eggs, cream, s&p and feta together, poured over the vegetables and mixed with the veg. Cooked on the stove for a few minutes, then finished off under the broiler until browned.

Raw and cooked.

A couple of angles - served up with potatoes.

Come on - who else is doing the frittata?

[srhcb]

I'll do a frittata every couple months, usually on a using-up-leftovers Sunday night.

I usually include some crumbled bacon or browned sausage, and add shredded cheese on top just before transfering it to the broiler.

I have incorporated leftover hashbrown potatos successfully.

SB (not a bad idea for a long weekend ending meal tonite?)

[srhcb]

SB (not a bad idea for a long weekend ending meal tonite?)

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And .... that's just what I did!

I had some Italian sausage, and small amounts of a couple different kinds of cheese.

Here's the method I used. I just googled [frittata recipe] and chose it at random.

I made a five egg frittata in a 7" dish so I cut five minutes off the initial oven time.

SB (not too bad! )

[Kajikit]

Funnily enough, I made a frittata for dinner tonight. I've never made one before, but I wasn't feeling well and needed something much faster and easier to prepare than the braised pork and smashed potatoes that I'd planned... I fried onion, chopped bacon and a diced green pepper, then added a chopped up microwaved potato and a packet of grated sharp cheddar. Let it brown a little and gave it a stir, then topped it with six beaten eggs and turned the heat down to low. A few gentle pokes and prods to get most of the egg to run around the sides/underneath, and then I let it sit for ten minutes to finish setting while I washed and dressed the greens and made some toast.

Here's a photo (if I can get the linking right!):

Edited January 16, 2007 by Kajikit (log)

[Porthos]

I had forgotten that frittatas even exist until watching a DVD of Everyday Italian in which Giada De Laurentis made a frittata. I then looked up a bunch of recipes on-line. I just picked up the first copies of Fine Cooking and Cook's Illustrated I have ever purchased. Fine Cooking had an article on frittatas. Seems that I was supposed be re-introduced to them. So last night I made a frittata for dinner.

Portabello Mushroom

Cubed Ham

Cubed Extra-sharp Cheddar + Shredded Extra-sharp cheddar on top.

Shallot

Fresh Thyme

Salt and Pepper

My wife was pleased as was I.

Porthos Potwatcher

The Unrelenting Carnivore

[Kouign Aman]

Inspired by this thread, I made my first fritatta:

fried potatoes and kale sauteed with garlic. It was good, especially with Tabasco. There was a little left over, so that will become a sandwich with a nice hot salty mustard tomorrow.

[lovebenton0]

makeover fritatta for dinner last night. i do one of these fairly often, probably a couple times a month, as i enjoy eggs for dinner and it's a perfect way to clean up my act for the week.

i scoped out the freezer and snagged a little container of ramen noodles i'd tossed with chopped tomatoes, corn kernels, onions, garlic, orange bell pepper and a jazz of crushed red pepper. thawed it, which gave me just a bit of juiciness from tomatoes. threw all in a couple eggs and some little bits of mozz. cooked slow in butter over med low heat until softly set.

ok, i pushed the definition by adding a topping [other than cheese] on this one, instead of all ingredients mixed together, but it worked. i arranged slices of grape tomatoes over top, grated some asiago cheese over all. let it finish to almost done, popped it under the broiler for a minute until cheese was melted and just a hint of gold coming up.

great with my own sourdough bread toasted on the side.

i finished the last quater of it today for lunch, sandwiched between more sourdough toast and spinach leaves.

i like pasta/noodles in fritatta, as well as rice, bread and potatoes. i think any starch source works well. i think the last fritatta i posted here a couple years ago i used sliced/fried polenta. that works for me too.

[dario]

g'day all,

can I point out that a basic frittata is, traditionally, a mixture of eggs cooked on both sides until light brown in a pan (no oven or grill) while an omelette is a mixture of eggs cooked on one side only.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that this topic is describing more an omelette than a frittata.

cheers

Dario

[lovebenton0]

g'day all,

can I point out that a basic frittata is, traditionally, a mixture of eggs cooked on both sides until light brown in a pan (no oven or grill) while an omelette is a mixture of eggs cooked on one side only.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that this topic is describing more an omelette than a frittata.

cheers

Dario

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well, i can't answer for everyone here, but i think we're discussing fritattas. i know i am. maybe we're just not bothering to say ''i flipped it''...

the other point of a fritatta, as i have understood it from eg and other sources, is that all ingredients, including the starch of your choice, are added to eggs to be cooked together and never folded. in contrast, with an omelette the eggs are filled after cooking and the omelette is folded.

having said that, as one of the world's great makeover foods, i posted here about a fritatta made for yesterday's brunch with some potato green chili gratin from 150 best american recipes.

[Megan Blocker]

I made my first fritatta this week - how easy is that?!?! I just love the technique - like my trusty lefotver salad, it lends itself so well to just tossing in whatever's in the fridge. I had some leftover spaghetti, so I added that, some tomatoes, garlic, onion and basil, and a bit of parm.

So easy, and so good.

[Smithy]

*bump*

 

When this topic was last active, frittatas were unusual enough that many of us had never made them. In rereading this topic I see discussion about what defines a frittata, and how the definitions are different in Italy, its original home, and the United States.

 

That was 10 years ago.  The food landscape has changed greatly, thanks to the expansion of the internet and TV.  

 

Last night I used a frittata to rescue cooked collards that I knew wouldn't pass muster in the household - not because they tasted bad, but because the other household human objects to cooked greens on principle.  (I can't claim credit for the idea; thanks go to @kayb.) It was a delicious way to make refrigerator space as well as rescue those collards. 

 

 

Frittatas are going back into my regular rotation of food.  How about you?  How common do you think frittatas are now?  Do you cook them often? Do you use a recipe, or a general formula, or just throw things together?

[winedoc]

My favorite frittata came from leftovers: rotisserie chicken breast, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil. I cut the tomatoes in half and put them cut-side up on the surface of the frittata just before it went into the oven.

[Anna N]

 And if you suffer from a serious case of FEAR OF FRITTATA check this out. 

[kayb]

I don't do them nearly often enough, mostly because I think of them in terms of my omelet pan, which is an 8-incher, and if I make one in it, it takes too doggone long to eat it unless I have a crowd at the house. I should get a small non-stick skillet, one that would hold about two eggs, to do one-serving ones.

 

I love 'em with anything green that's leftover. I always have roasted cherry tomatoes in the freezer, and those go nicely as well. I do a "southwest" one with chorizo, fried diced potatoes, black beans, and cheese, and top it with avocado and more cheese, serve with salsa and sour cream, that's pretty wonderful.

 

[cakewalk]

I figure I've been eating fritatas long before I ever heard the word, and most of us probably have as well. Leftovers? Eggs? Hmmm, dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast. 

[Lisa Shock]

11 hours ago, kayb said:

I don't do them nearly often enough, mostly because I think of them in terms of my omelet pan, which is an 8-incher, and if I make one in it, it takes too doggone long to eat it unless I have a crowd at the house. I should get a small non-stick skillet, one that would hold about two eggs, to do one-serving ones.

 

I love 'em with anything green that's leftover. I always have roasted cherry tomatoes in the freezer, and those go nicely as well. I do a "southwest" one with chorizo, fried diced potatoes, black beans, and cheese, and top it with avocado and more cheese, serve with salsa and sour cream, that's pretty wonderful.

 

 

I use a small cast iron pan, a six inch Wagner, I like how it performs with frittata. I heat up the non-egg ingredients, then add the egg and move it to the broiler. Carryover heat cooks the bottom and the broiler handles the top quickly. I tend to like browning the bottom of my ingredients, along with using brown butter, so, I don't mind having a relatively thin final product if (for example) there are browned potatoes as the base. If 6" seems too large, many times, I save half for later consumption, Lodge does make a 3.5" model.