Breakfast for Dinner

Sort of.

I decided to use some of the many eggs I had in the house.  Seriously, I had more than 2 dozen.  Why so many eggs?  Don’t ask – I don't have a good answer for that one.  Maybe I bought them on sale, maybe because I was getting baking ambitious.  I'm not sure.

Anyway, I was staring at all those eggs and thought – ooooh – frittata for dinner! 

I love a good frittata. 

I also love using what I have on hand.  Namely, baby spinach, potatoes, garlic and onion.  But back to the eggs for a moment.

Eggs – the perfect food.  They are a simple, beautiful thing.  They can be eaten on their own or made into any number of dishes.

Little tidbit of trivia if you will indulge me.

A chef’s toque (or hat) is a tall rounded white pleated starched hat.   I know you have seen them.  Traditionally, the toques will have 101 pleats in them, which signify all the ways a skilled chef can cook an egg.

Seriously – 101.  Have you cooked your eggs 101 different ways?  Let’s see, there’s poaching, frying, scrambling, hard boiling, baking, deviling, sunny side up.  You can make quiches, omelet’s, French toast, egg salad, eggs in a hole, soufflé, crepes, flan, crème brulee……okay, you get the point.  I’ve given you some ideas to get started.

So, get on it!

Start with the frittata.

Here is what you need:

1 medium sized Yukon Gold Potato (or your potato of choice)

1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

5 oz. baby spinach

8 large eggs

½ cup half and half

1 – 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese (your choice here – can be Swiss, provolone, cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, etc.)

salt & pepper

olive oil

Here is what you do:

Thinly slice the potato and toss in a small bowl with some salt and pepper and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Place on a baking sheet or piece of stoneware and bake in a 400 degree oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. When you remove the potatos from the oven, turn the temperature down to 375 degrees.

Meanwhile in a 10 inch sauté pan, cook the onion and garlic in some olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of your pan) approximately 3-4 minutes or until onions start to become soft. 

Add the baby spinach and carefully keep mixing it into the onions.  The pan will look like this:

Don’t panic, it looks very full but the spinach will wilt down until it looks like this:

While the veggies are cooking, crack your eggs into a bowl. Whisk in the half and half and some salt and pepper to taste.  Add ½ the cheese.

Remove potatoes from oven.  Empty the veggies from your pan into the egg mixture.  In the same skillet, layer your potatoes over the bottom of the pan.  Pour the eggs, spinach mixture on top of eggs and cook in a 375 degree oven approximately 20-25 minutes or until eggs are set and are not runny in the middle.

Top frittata with remaining ½ cup of cheese and place under broiler or back into oven just until the cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and serve.  This is great on its own or paired with a nice arugula salad.

Now you know how I always talk about “making it your own?”  This is the perfect recipe to do this with.  As long as you have your base, you can make this 101 times (little toque reference there) and it will never be the same.  You can substitute any vegetables you have lying around; add in some more, like mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes.  If you don’t have fresh vegetables, go to the freezer and thaw some that you may have on hand.  You can add in your favorite cheese or leave it out altogether.

The best part is, this is a nice dish to make any time of year or for any occasion.  Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, parties, snacks.  Okay, I'll stop listing stuff now.

Eggs - it's what's for dinner.