Enjoying Gluten-Free Life

Breakfast (Lunch, Dinner, Snack) Made Easy

This open-faced Italian version of an omelet is a simple breakfast, lunch or dinner and a delicious way to use up leftovers.

Recipes for frittatas abound – and are helpful. (Linda’s Spinach and Ham Frittata looks delish) But you can also go through your fridge or freezer and pull out bits of leftovers to make a custom frittata. Today, our breakfast was a frittata with sausage, red pepper, garlic and Italian herbs.

I’ve made this with as few as four eggs but it’s a bit thin then. Six or eight is good then leftover slices can be put in the fridge and reheated in the microwave or oven/toaster oven. (My husband’s already called dibs on today’s leftovers.)

Choose a mix of these ingredients:

Any cheese: parmesan mixed with eggs before adding to pan, goat cheese crumbled into the eggs as they cook, shredded cheddar added to the top before putting it in to oven.

Veggies: whatever – onion, garlic, leftover broccoli or asparagus, diced tomato, roasted red pepper, diced sweet potato (if uncooked, sauté until done before adding eggs), leftover baked potato sliced or diced, mushrooms (sauté in pan before adding eggs), spinach, etc.  A potato frittata is basically a Spanish tortilla (not what we think of as “tortilla” but I’ve had this in Spain.)

Herbs: whatever – either fresh or dried. A dash of cayenne pepper gives it some zing. A dash of paprika gives a more subtle but similar flavor. (My husband can’t take food that’s too spicy.)

Meat: whatever – bacon bits (I make mine by dicing and cooking until crispy), ham, sausage, leftover chicken, steak, taco meat (delish as part of a Mexican version with onion, garlic, tomatoes, oregano and, if you eat dairy, cheese), etc.

To make the frittata:

Add a couple of teaspoons of water* to the eggs and whip them with a whisk until light and fluffy then set aside. Turn on the broiler. Heat oil on medium heat in an oven safe skillet (12” or so) and sauté anything that needs it – mushrooms, onion, garlic (briefly – don’t let it burn), ham, sausage, etc. Turn the heat down a notch. Give the eggs a quick additional whip, add the rest of the filling and seasonings - other than any cheese you want on top – and pour the mixture into the pan. Cook for about five minutes, until the bottom is cooked and the top is set. If you have a heavy pan like cast iron, you can let it sit on the heat undisturbed for the five minutes. Mine is a thinner stainless so I push the egg to the center and tilt the pan to bring the liquid egg to the ege just as I would with an omelet. If cheese is desired on top, add it then place the pan under the broiler (with the oven door open) and cook until golden, about five minutes more. Watch it carefully! Cut it into wedges and enjoy.

To make our breakfast: In olive oil, saute crumbled sausage (I thawed it in the microwave first), chopped red pepper and minced garlic. Sprinkle Italian herb seasoning into the beaten eggs and pour over the ingredients in the pan. After broiling, I cut out a slice for myself then sprinkled shredded colby-jack cheese over the top and put it back under the broiler until golden.

*This was in a cookbook I had years ago and makes the eggs fluffier.

Linked to It’s a Keeper! Thursday/Frugal Food Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday,  Allergy-Friendly Friday, Gluten-Free Wednesdays on Gluten-Free Homemaker