Читать книгу Entertaining at Home - Rachel Allen - Страница 24

A frittata is a thick and almost endlessly versatile Italian omelette. It can be flavoured with just herbs and cheese or almost a whole fried breakfast!

SERVES 4–6 VEGETARIAN

(with non-vegetarian variations)

8 eggs

50ml (2fl oz) milk

Salt and ground black pepper

2 tbsp chopped chives or parsley

110g (4oz) Gruyère cheese, grated

25g (1oz) butter

25cm (10in) diameter ovenproof frying pan

1 Preheat the grill on a medium setting.

2 Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with the milk, seasoning with salt and pepper. Next gently mix in the herbs and grated cheese.

3 Place a large non-stick frying pan on a low-medium heat. Add the butter and when it has melted and starts to foam, add the egg mixture to the warm pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the cooked mixture from the bottom, from the outside in, filling its space with liquid egg by gently tilting the pan. Do this 5–6 times, then allow the mixture to cook for a further 2–3 minutes or until the bottom of the frittata is golden — you can tell this by lifting it slightly up at the edge using a palette knife or fish slice.

4 Take the pan off the heat and place under the grill, making sure that you leave a gap of a few centimetres between the frittata and the grill element. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the mixture has fluffed up nicely and is beginning to turn golden brown on top, by which stage the frittata will have cooked through to the centre.

5 Using a palette knife or fish slice, loosen the edges and slide onto a plate. Serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature.

VARIATIONS

Make the recipe as above, adding the following to the basic egg mixture just before cooking:

Breakfast frittata: 150g (5oz) sliced mushrooms, fried in a little butter and seasoned with salt and pepper, and 10 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into 1cm (½in) pieces and fried until crispy.

Frittata ranchera: 150g (5oz) peeled and chopped onion, sweated in a little sunflower oil or butter, 4 small tomatoes cut into 5mm (¼in) dice, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped and deseeded red chilli (or more to taste) and 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander.