Bacon, Cheese and Spinach Frittata

For the many of you who read the blog religiously I wanted to fill you in on the further outcome of the pulling of my tooth. (For those of you that haven’t ready about it, check out the polenta entry by clicking here.)

I feel pretty good, I really didn’t need to take the pain pills, other than the first day and you can tell by the blog postings in the past week that it hasn’t slowed down my eating habits. In fact I think I’ve eaten more food since the tooth was pulled than I did before. HAHA. So I’m almost back to normal and should be completely back in business in a few weeks.

Thinking about it, I guess nothing in my life stops me from eating. If I get stressed I eat, if I’m bored I eat, depressed… bring on the food the more the merrier. I eat when I watch TV, I eat when I read and I guess I still eat when I get teeth pulled. What is up with this? I would probably eat while I work out if I could. To those of you out there who are like me, there is a solution though, it’s painful to say the least… I exercise quite a bit and I eat small portions most of the week. I do go crazy a few days every few weeks though. In fact I ate almost a whole container of Double Stuff Oreo cookies last night.

Anyway on to the frittata. Before I met Nancy I didn’t know what a frittata was and I don’t think I had ever eaten one. For that matter, I think I had never eaten strata or quiche either. That changed quickly. Our restaurant is know for producing incredible quiche and frittata. In fact Reno Magazine voted us ‘Best Quiche’ last year and we make at least three different versions of quiche every day and most of the time sell it all before the end of the day.

Frittata is an Italian omelet. It is basically eggs, sometimes cream or milk filled with a various combinations of herbs, meat, cheeses and/or vegetables. Unlike a French omelet it is served open-faced and though started on the stovetop, it is finished in the oven or under the broiler. At the restaurant we make them often with whatever fun stuff we have around. We cater for a doctor’s office in town about once a month and they always ask for our frittata with Italian sausage, spinach and herbs.

I’ve watched others make them, but I haven’t made my own until this week. I made one first on Friday morning then again on Sunday morning because on Friday I forgot to add the cream and salt. Yes, I’m a bit of a perfectionist with certain things.

I ended up looking at a million recipes in my very large collection of cookbooks and decided that I wanted a basic version to start. Something that would be quick and easy, but taste great. I settled on onion, bacon, cheddar cheese and spinach. I was close to doing asparagus or potatoes, but I wanted for my first version to be something quick that anyone can make for their family without much effort.

My first dilemma was should I bake the bacon, see my baking bacon recipe, or since I only needed a few pieces go with the microwave version. On Friday for sake of simplicity I went with the microwave, but was unhappy with the result, so on Sunday I baked the bacon. Much better!

In the end, the below recipe is a great start for frittata. In the future I will be experimenting with other ingredients and hope to make a version with chorizo next time.

Bacon, Cheese and Spinach Frittata (serves 4)

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 cup spinach, rinsed and dried
• 6 cooked slices of bacon
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup + some (see below) cheddar cheese, or cheese of choice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat oil in oven-proof, nonstick 9 or 10” pan, over medium heat, add onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. While the onions are sautéing in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, half and half, cooked bacon and cheddar cheese.

Add in the spinach with your softened onions and cook them until wilted about 1 minute, stirring around a bit to distribute the heat. Spread out the spinach and onion mixture on the bottom of the pan and then pour in the egg mixture. While the eggs are setting, gently lift the cooked egg at the edge of the frittata with a wooden spoon so that raw egg from the top can run underneath. Continue cooking until the bottom is lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Sprinkle some grated cheese on top of the frittata (1/4 cup) and slide into your warmed oven. Bake until eggs are set on top and cheese is melted. Remove from oven; remember that the pan is super hot. Place an oven mitt or a towel over the handle so nobody in the house burns themselves. Serve right away or at room temperature.

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