Every once in a while, we stumble across a recipe that automatically conjures our inner children. Such was the case when Kyle read a recipe in the latest issue of Food & Wine for “Greens Frittata with Mixed Herbs.” It wasn’t long before his culinary word association took him through the progression of Frittata…Eggs…Greens…Green Eggs…add Ham…and before long he was channeling Dr. Suess to bring us today’s recipe. In keeping with F&W’s Italian theme for this particular issue, the “ham” component of our recipe takes the form of prosciutto, satisfying the sensibilities of the inner child and the palate of the sophisticated grown up in one fell swoop. Remember, we faincy.
The lovely thing about the green herb sauce is that it’s a bit of a blank canvas, and much more user friendly than even the simplest pesto. The original recipe contained spinach, parsley, arugula, mint and chives, but we wanted to keep it simple, so we went with the basics (which we happened to have on hand) and used some nice arugula and bright, fresh parsley.
The sauce is dressed up just a bit, with a couple of teaspoons of sugar to balance the peppery arugula, and some white wine vinegar to brighten the flavor even further (lemon juice or any other vinegar that you like would work just as well). The finished “sauce” is light and refreshing, aside from being delicious, and serves as the perfect counterpoint to the natural richness of the eggs and the heavier salt notes of the prosciutto.
We also love that you can make the sauce the night before and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. This makes your morning prep even quicker. Another favorite feature of frittatas is that they aren’t as fussy as a quiche (no crust, woohoo!) and technically, you still get to feel like you’re eating pie for breakfast. Score another point for the inner child.
While this particular frittata foregoes the addition of any cheese, it won’t suffer one tiny but should you decide to add some before it goes into the oven. We obviously wanted to keep this recipe gluten free (super easy, btw), but decided to go the dairy free route, as well. This dish is full of texture and wonderful flavor without the addition of cheese, or even cream, but if you want it, add it. We won’t be mad.
This is also a perfect way to use up any extra herbs or salad greens from last night’s dinner, rather than letting them wither and brown in the crisper, which can be a profound aggravation and a waste of money. Blend them up and use them! Your tastebuds, wallet and digestion will thank you. You can use any leftover sauce as a garnish for the finished frittata, along with some Sun-dried Tomato Jam or Pisto, should you have any on hand. Enjoy!
Inspired by Food & Wine.
- 5 ounces Arugula (about 2 cups)
- 1 cup parsley leaves
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 slices prosciutto, torn
- 12 eggs, lightly beaten
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the arugula and parsley leaves until pulverized. Add the vinegar and sugar and pulse a few more times. With the motor running, stream in the olive oil.
- Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate with butter, olive oil, or cooking spray. Sprinkle the bottom of the dish with the torn prosciutto, then spoon half of the green herb sauce over the prosciutto.
- Pour egg mixture into the pie dish, then sprinkle top with salt and pepper. Bake until frittata is cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Slice into wedges and serve with reserved herb sauce.
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