Baked Frittata with Roasted Red Peppers, Arugula, and Pesto

When I hosted brunch a few weeks ago, I had visions of serving my favourite brunch fare, quiche.  Our start time, however, was too ambitious for me to make a homemade pie crust.   I was determined however to have my egg fix, so I decided to switch tactics and embrace a frittata.

As a quiche lover (and who wouldn’t want to enjoy tender flaky crusts when possible?) I have very little experience making a frittata. I was looking for a bright, fun vegetarian recipe.  A quick google search brought me to this mouthwatering dish from Gimme some Oven – cheesy eggs infused with roasted red peppers, pesto, and arugula sounded like a delicious combination to try.

I loved the fresh flavour combination, along with the ease of assembling!  And I may have to bring this dish out at Christmas given the gorgeous red and green colours.

Serves 9-12

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil plus extra to grease pan

1 white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 eggs, whisked

1 (12-oz) jar of roasted red peppers, drained and diced

2 large handfuls of baby arugula, roughly chopped

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup pesto

Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pie plate with olive oil.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Stir in garlic and saute an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.

In a separate large bowl, combine the eggs, roasted red peppers, arugula, cheese, pesto, salt and pepper. Add in the onion mixture, and stir until combined. (Note – it will resemble vomit at this point, but I promise you, persevere as it will taste delicious!)

Pour the filling into the prepared pie pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The frittata will rise while baking, but should settle back down once you remove it from the oven. Allow the frittata to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Bon appetit!

– Catherine

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Smoked salmon and fresh basil frittata

The first time I tried a smoked salmon and fresh basil frittata, it was made for me. I had never thought of the combination of basil with smoked salmon – usually I associate parsley, or dill – so this seemed unusual. With the first bite, however, I realized that they go very well together.

The great thing about this meal is that it is very simple, and yet very elegant. It can easily be made for an impromptu celebration – like celebrating the arrival of Saturday, or your friend for a spontaneous brunch.

This summer, we had an abundance of basil in our garden so vast that even eating it daily and making about 4 pounds of pesto to store in the freezer did not completely eliminate it. What a tomato-and-basil summer it was in Toronto!

This recipe comes from Donna Hay’s wonderful collection.

Ingredients – generously serves 2

-4 eggs, lightly beaten
-1/2 cup milk
-1/3 cup shredded basil
-1/3 cup grated aged cheddar cheese or gruyère
-cracked black pepper
-6-8 slices smoked salmon
-4 toasted slices of your favourite bread

Directions

Place the eggs, milk, basil, cheddar and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.  Pour the mixture into a  frying pan and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until it is almost set.

Place under a hot grill (broiler) for 1 minute or until golden.  Remove from the pan and cut into wedges.  To serve, top with the gravlax, and buttered, toasted bread.

-Sitelle

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