Roasted Vegetable Frittata
A Great Recipe that uses up Leftover Vegetables - and Saves Money
Apr 13, 2009
A frittata is a rustic omelette, and you can vary the ingredients as you choose. This recipe for frittata uses leftover roasted vegetables. It comes from a great new recipe book produced by Italian seed company Seeds of Italy. The book, From Seed to Plate by Paolo Arrigo (pub. Simon and Schuster, £20) has recipes for everything from bread to walnut liqueur. This recipe for Roasted Vegetable Frittata appears here with permission.
According to Paolo Arrigo, the trick to cooking a good frittata is just a question of timing. Do the things that take the longest first. The aim is to have everything just cooked properly as the eggs set.
Roasted Vegetable Frittata – Recipe
Frittata dell'Orto
Ingredients – Serves 4
- Vegetable oil
- 2 large potatoes and the same weight of pumpkin, or leftover roasted vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 100g ham, salami, mortadella or speck, cut up
- 8 eggs
- A dash of milk or cream
- Fresh tarragon
- A knob of butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- A cupful of peas
- Cheese (Provolone, Cheddar, Toma, Fontina) in the quantity you like, cut into cubes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Put a good splash of vegetable oil in a pan and, if you are using leftover roasted veg, throw them in to sizzle, along with the onion and ham or salami. If you are not using leftovers, cook the potatoes a little first then add the pumpkin, as it will take less time to cook. You’ll need to season the potatoes and pumpkin – leftover vegetables may not need any.
- Fry on a medium heat to get some golden edges on the vegetables and salami and caramelize the onions a touch, which will give the dish a lovely colour and super flavour, but keep tossing the ingredients around to prevent them burning.
- While the vegetables are cooking (about 4-6 minutes), break the eggs into a jug and add a good dash of milk or cream, tarragon (to taste) and the butter in little pieces.
- Add the garlic and the peas to the pan and cook for a minute before adding the egg mixture, which you should season just before pouring into the pan, otherwise it will go runny. Spread the pieces of cheese evenly so that everyone will get some. Don’t grate the cheese – it’s a frittata not an omelette, and each mouthful should be different: one cheesy, the next beautiful roasted potato, the next caramelized onion etc.
- Keep the heat at medium and cover with a good lid that will trap the heat and set the top while keeping it moist and melting the cheese. Don’t turn the heat down low and cook it for ages or it will go rubbery, and don’t try to cook it quickly over a very high heat as the bottom will burn and the top will still be runny.
- That’s it – when it’s just set on top, bring the pan to the table (protected with a heat-resistant mat or covering). If you like, you can brown the top by putting it under a hot grill for a minute before serving but make sure your pan is grill-proof and the handle won’t melt.
- To serve, make sure there are a couple of essentials on the table: rustic bread cut into wedges and butter pieces. Don’t use packaged bread, says Paolo Arrigo – what a waste of a good frittata. It would be like wearing a Zegna or Armani suit with really cheap trainers.
Try this recipe for Homemade Gorgonzola and Walnut Bread
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