A frittata is the ultimate clean-out-the-fridge, you’re-starving-at-8 p.m.-on-a-Wednesday dinner. As long as you’ve got eggs, salt and pepper and some kind of filling, you’ve got a meal that’ll be ready in minutes. You can add cheese, or meat, or just whatever leftover vegetables you’ve got hanging out in the crisper drawer, and it’ll surely be more delicious than those fillings on their own. Even better — frittatas can be served hot from the oven, at a leisurely room temperature, or even cold straight from the fridge the next day. You barely even need a recipe to pull one off.
But you will find a recipe below. After all, the difference between a serviceable frittata and an excellent frittata comes down to technique. As with any other recipe that involves eggs, care must be taken to avoid a rubbery texture or an unevenly cooked mess.
To accomplish a light, fluffy texture with no weepy eggs in sight, you’ll want to start the frittata on the stovetop, gently cooking the eggs while stirring, then pop the whole thing in the oven to finish cooking through gently. Stirring on the stovetop helps the eggs form fluffy curds, and finishing in a moderate oven prevents the bottom of the frittata from browning before the top cooks through.
Now, even with proper egg cookery, you’ll still want to keep in mind the volume of fillings. For six eggs, which fills a medium, 10-inch skillet, you’ll want around 1 1/2 cups of filling ingredients, plus a moderate amount of cheese, if you so please. Much more filling than this and your frittata won’t come together in a sliceable form. In the recipe below, you’ll find fillings that mimic a Denver omelet — onion, green pepper, cheddar, ham — but you can certainly modify these however you’d like.
The only other trick for successful frittata cookery is to use an oven-safe, nonstick skillet or a well-seasoned cast-iron one. You do, after all, want to make sure the frittata makes it out of the pan and onto your plate.
Per serving: 219 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 15 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 16 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 337 milligrams cholesterol, 520 milligrams sodium.
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