Frittata ta ta

Well, building on the egg theme here, I have an easy recipe to share. Last night, amid an onslaught of swarming drywood termites in the kitchen of my very cute but infested house, Sarah-pie and I cooked up a feast. It's a great way to make a cheap, protein-rich main course using some of the bounty of your summer garden (or farmer's market). Give 'er a whirl! Try a tomato salad and toast on the side- we did and it was good. This recipe is super flexible- all measurements are just suggestions and all ingredients free to change at your whim.

Summertime Frittata with Chard, Onions and Fresh Herbs
(serves 4, or 2 or 3 hungrier people)

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup (approx) grated cheese (I used Manchego, but a milder cheese combined with Parmesian would be delish too)
• 1 bunch chard, leaves chopped, big part of stems saved for another use
• 1 purple onion (or other onion-like thing...I used a shallot and a tiny onion)
• 3 Tbs. olive oil (approx)
• about 1/2 cup fresh basil
• about 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• salt & pepper

pre-heat broiler

Cut the onion/shallot into halves or quarters and slice fairly thinly. Heat about 2 Tbs. of the oil in a 10" oven-safe skillet (cast iron is great) and toss in the onions. Cook, over low heat, slowly for about 10-15 minutes, stirring, until onions are very soft and caramelized. Add the chopped chard and continue cooking and stirring over low heat about another 10 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked off the chard. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk or stir. Finely chop the garlic with about a tsp. of salt and add this flavoricious paste to the egg along with the chopped herbs and a good grind of pepper. Stir in most of the cheese. Add the cooked chard/onion mix to the bowl of eggs and stir to combine (you may want to let the chard stuff cool off a bit before adding to the eggs- not sure if this matters but it's what I did). Heat the remaining tbs. of oil in the skillet and dump in the egg mixture. Give it a good stir or two and then set down the spoon and let it cook very slowly over low heat for about 10 minutes until the eggs are mostly set except for on top. Sprinkle your remaining bit of cheese over the top and slide the whole shebang into the oven and broil about 4-5 minutes to set the top and brown (check frequently).

Let her cool a bit and serve by either slicing right out of the pan or attempting to pry the whole thing loose from the pan and cutting it pizza-style.
Frittata ta ta!