Making a Basic Frittata
Frittatas are a great unplanned meal
This may be the most versatile dinner recipe Ricky has. The only “must have” ingredient when making your own frittata is eggs. You can add what you have on hand from there. This basic frittata is meatless.
I have always enjoyed cooking, but to say I am thrilled about making dinner at the end of a busy day, is a long stretch. For the most part, my challenge is trying to figure out what I am going to make. I usually don’t mind actually making dinner. I enjoy the mental serenity of focusing on a simple task like cutting up vegetables. But all too often my lack of planning leaves me steeped in self recrimination. Ricky plans ahead. Every day he plans what he is having for dinner and shops for all the fresh ingredients to make it. OH PLEASE!
If you can relate to standing in the kitchen, as the dinner bell is about to ring, staring into the refrigerator without a clue on what you are going to cook for dinner, this recipe is for US my disorganized comrades. It is a “bail me out” dinner recipe. If you have 9 eggs, you can make dinner. So my fellow “fly by the seat of your pants” dinner makers, stock up on eggs. We can outsmart our demons.😈
Knowing how to make Frittatas will come in handy
Frittatas are an easy and economical one pan meal. You can add meat, potatoes, vegetables, or a mix of any of these ingredients. After using the ingredients we give you in this recipe to make a frittata, we hope you start experimenting with other ingredients you like. What’s lost in trying? That’s a good question to ask yourself anytime you are hesitant to try something new. If nothing is lost, you have only to gain, right? Sure, not all ingredients will work as well as others. But some work so well together, it’s worth all the less than perfect attempts.
Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:
| 2 medium sized potatoes |
| 1 medium sized yellow onion |
| 9 eggs |
| ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese |
| ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper |
| Olive oil |
Once you get the gist of how to make a frittata, the variety of ingredients and flavors you can add is limitless!
This is WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare your ingredients
Thinly slice 2 medium sized potatoes and one medium sized yellow onion. You don’t need to peel your potatoes before you slice them. This not only reduces the preparation time, it retains nutrients that are in the skin. Wash your potatoes well before slicing. We have a post in our CLAUDIA’S COOKING TIPS GALLERY with a lighthearted look at making sure you remember to wash your vegetables in Wash Before You Eat. Cut the potato in half lengthwise, and then slice each half into slices. Cut the onion in the same manner, as shown below.
This is an easy way to slice an onion. If you are chopping an onion rather than slicing it, make fatter slices and cut the slices down the middle, or in thirds depending on the size of the onion.
Break 9 eggs into a bowl or large measuring cup and beat them a little with a fork so all the yolks are broken and incorporated with the egg whites. Don’t add anything to the eggs. Shred the cheese.
Everything is cracked, stirred, chopped, measured or grated and ready to go. Might sound like a lot to do, but it only takes minutes.
Now you are ready to cook
Start cooking on the stovetop
Warm a 10 inch, heavy bottomed skillet with an oven safe handle, on medium high heat. The size of the skillet is important. If you are using a larger skillet than we are in this recipe, the frittata is thinner and it will take less cooking time in the oven. A really large skillet will make an egg pancake ?. Likewise, if you use a smaller skillet than 10 inch, it would need a little more oven time.
When the skillet is warm, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Still on medium high heat, sauté the sliced potato and onion, moving the vegetables around regularly to cook evenly and prevent sticking. You are not browning the potato, you are cooking them till tender. If the potato starts sticking to the bottom of the skillet or browning, add a little more olive oil and turn down the heat. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper to the vegetables as they sauté.
Sauteed potato and onion with salt and pepper.
Take off the heat and add eggs and cheese and let it sit
When potatoes are tender, take the skillet off the heat and pour in the eggs. Don’t stir the eggs in, just pour the slightly beaten eggs over the vegetables in the skillet. Top with ¼ cup grated cheese. Let stand for 5 minutes before putting the skillet in your preheated oven.
With the skillet removed from the hot burner, add the eggs to the skillet. Do not stir them in, just pour them over. Then add the cheese on top. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Then bake it
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the egg mixture has firmed and the cheese on the top and the edges of the frittata, have started to brown. Remove skillet from the oven. Be very careful when removing the skillet from the oven! The handle is screaming hot. It will burn you immediately. Use a thick kitchen towel, oven mitts or pot holders. The skillet is awkward and heavy coming out of the oven. You need to have a firm grip.
Take it out of the oven and let it sit again
When first out of the oven, the frittata is all puffed up. That air settles down quickly.
Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Onion and potato frittata fresh out of the oven. Great for breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner.
You can make it your way or ours
Once you are familiar with the cooking method used in making a frittata, there are countless variations you can make. Be creative. How about ham with swiss cheese? I make that quite often. Broccoli with cheddar or parmesan cheese is also fantastic. For those not ready to go solo, when we catch up with the recipes we have already started, we will walk you through making those variations and others.
Frittata
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes medium sized
- 1 yellow onion
- 9 eggs large brown or white
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- olive oil
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Thinly slice the potatoes and the onion
- Break 9 eggs into a bowl or large measuring cup and lightly beat them
- Grate the parmesan cheese (if you are using fresh grated, which is always the most flavorful).
Cooking Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Warm a heavy bottomed, oven safe skillet on medium high heat.
- When warmed, cover the bottom of the skillet with olive oil. Add the potato and onion to the skillet and saute until the potato slices are tender. While sauteing, add the salt and pepper.
- Once the potato slices are tender, remove the skillet from the heat. Pour the eggs over the potato and onion, but do not mix the eggs in. Top with the grated cheese.
- Let the skillet sit for 5 minutes before putting it in the oven.
- Put the skillet into your preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top and edges of the frittata are browned.
- Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.