You Say Tortilla, I Say Frittata

Happy March!

This month really did come in like a lion for me. On the first day of the month, I thought I felt something. And by Friday night, I was sure of it – the feeling was Baby Kopp moving around. Very exciting, but also very strange. It’s odd to be aware of something alive moving inside of you. I know that I should be amazed and awestruck by the feeling, but I can’t help but be a little freaked out and unsettled by it too. Maybe I watch too many horror movies like Rosemary’s Baby.

Anyway, kind of in honor of Dr. Seuss Day, I decided to make a frittata and ham loaf for dinner over the weekend (my version of green eggs and ham).

I LOVE eggs. After pasta, they are my favorite ingredient to cook with. They’re so versatile and easy to work with. Plus, they are a very cheap protein compared to beef, pork and chicken. And cheap is essential in the Kopp kitchen.

When you have a bunch of eggs that you need to use, the quickest and most delicious thing to do with them is make a frittata or tortilla (they’re the same thing – frittata is just the Italian version and tortilla is the Spanish one). As indicated by my blog title, I don’t like to wash unnecessary dishes. So, in my opinion, the best thing about frittatas is that you can cook them in one pan.

Okay, that’s enough talk – let’s make a frittata! Here’s what you’ll need:

6-8 eggs (depending on your sauté pan size)
3 medium size potatoes
2 red bell peppers
1 medium size onion
Several sprigs of parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
¼ to ½ cup of milk
Handful of shredded cheese (optional)

Potato and onion is a classic pairing for frittatas or tortillas. I added red peppers to mine, because I like a pop of color in my food and I believe you can never go wrong with more vegetables in any recipe.

Start with the potatoes. Obviously, you’ll need to scrub them clean. Normally, I would not peel them because it’s against my religion to peel potatoes for anything but mashed potatoes (the skin is the most nutritious part!). But the potatoes I used were in rough shape and covered in dirt, so I was forced to do some extra work and peel them. If you have nice, pretty potatoes, please feel free to be lazy and leave the skin on.

The key to making a potato frittata is to have super thin slices of potatoes. You can use a mandolin or a food processor to thinly slice your potatoes, but a sharp knife is really all you need. It gets the job done faster with less equipment to clean up afterwards. But don’t use some silly little steak knife – a chef’s knife is the way to go for this.

For some reason, I really do love chopping and slicing with sharp knives…it’s very relaxing for me. (I’m sounding very macabre in this blog – I swear I’m not a serial killer! And I promise to keep all my kitchen knives safely stowed away from Baby Kopp.)

After slicing up your potatoes, add them to a hot sauté pan with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. I recommend using a non-stick pan, so you can avoid scrubbing egg residue from the pan later on. Let the potatoes cook, stirring occasionally, while slicing up the onion and red peppers.

The peppers and onion should be julienned, i.e. sliced thinly. Then add them to the party in the pan. Cook all the veggies until they’re tender.

In the meantime, grab your eggs, milk, parsley, salt and pepper, and optional grated cheese. I had a chunk of sharp cheddar that I need to use it, so I decided to throw it into my frittata. But don’t feel like you have to add cheese – trust me, it’ll taste yummy with or without it!

Look at my little kitchen helper. Always under my feet while I’m cooking, patiently waiting for something, anything to fall to the floor. Walter is far from picky – he’ll take potato peelings, raw onion, even egg shells. He’s quite the handy vacuum.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper. Chop up the parsley and stir it into the egg mixture (NOW they are green eggs!). If using cheese, stir it in too.

Add the egg mixture to the potato mixture in the sauté pan. Give it a little stir to mix everything together and even out the top. Then let it cook until the eggs are mostly set in the middle.

Once the eggs are close to set in the middle, invert the pan onto a large plate and shake out the frittata. If you’re using a non-stick pan, it should come out pretty easily but you may need to help it along with a spatula or knife. Now that your frittata is flipped, add it back into the pan and cook it upside down for a couple more minutes on the stove. Then flip it back out of the pan onto a serving plate. Voilà! Dinner is served.