Our home is generally a peaceful and welcoming place; my son knows he can always invite his friends over – even at short notice. When somebody drops in, price I am always able to offer lunch or dinner. It might not be an elaborate dish, unhealthy but even on a rainy day I normally have a pasta sauce or two stashed away in my freezer.
In case I don’t want to make pasta, a frittata is a great way of dishing up a tasty and healthy meal in no time at all. Basically, a frittata is the Italian version of the French omelette. With one big difference: An omelette is cooked only on one side, while the frittata is flipped or finished under the grill. Like pizza, anything goes with a frittata. You can use every kind of vegetable, herb, cheese, fish and shellfish, bacon, sausage and salami slices. Only one ingredient remains the same. You cannot make frittata without eggs.
I call the recipe here Rainbow Frittata, because I tried to use as many different coloured vegetables as possible. This recipe is only a guideline. Just take whatever you have in the kitchen, throw the ingredients into a pan and spill some eggs over the mixture. In most cases you can enjoy a delicious, light meal.
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Rainbow Frittata
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
6 eggs
1 big carrot
1 medium beetroot
1 bundle spring onions
2 cloves garlic
1 bundle parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Clean and chop the spring onions. Crush the garlic. Peel and grate the carrot and the beetroot. Wash the parsley and chop it.
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Fry the spring onions, carrot and beetroot over a low fire until they are soft, for around three to four minutes. While the vegetables are getting done, crack the eggs into a bowl and season them with salt and pepper. Mix the eggs well with a fork.
Add the parsley and garlic to the vegetables and fry for another minute. Spread the egg mixture over the vegetables and cover the pan with a lid.
When the egg has largely set, flip the frittata or finish it under the grill. All my pans have plastic handles, that’s why I always flip my frittata. This is a bit tricky, but not as difficult as it sounds. I loosen the border of the frittata with a spatula and make sure that it does not stick to the pan. Then I place a flat plate over the pan and turn it. Now the frittata should be in one piece on your plate. From the plate I then slide the frittata back into the pan and give it another two minutes.
If you use the grill, just place the pan under the grill and wait till the egg-mixture takes on a lovely, bronze colour. Enjoy!
Kornelia is a German food writer living in Goa, India, with her Italian husband and her son. She has published two cookbooks, Kornelia’s Kitchen – Mediterranean Cooking for India and Kornelia’s Kitchen 2 – Cooking for Allergies. Both have won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. All her recipes are easy, fast and delicious – the right kind of food to keep your family healthy and happy without spending too much time in the kitchen.
