Recipes from Cooking with Doyle Moore on Focus 580

May 5, 2004:  The Frittata

The frittata is sometimes called an Italian omelet.  There are lots of variations possible; it’s flexible about what you can put in.  This is a type of one-dish meal, something you can get on the table relatively quickly. 

Even though frittatas are based on eggs, which we think of as breakfast food, they are suitable for lunch and dinner and even as a main dish.  They are like soufflés, but you use whole eggs, not separated. 

METHODS OF COOKING FRITTATAS

Like omelets, frittatas are cooked in a skillet.  There are three different techniques for making a frittata:

Method #1:  Mix together the ingredients, put them into a non-stick skillet, and cook one side.  When you are ready to flip it to cook the other side, you want to do so in a way that doesn’t cause the frittata to fall apart:  ease the frittata out onto a plate, and turn the skillet upside down over the plate; then turn both the skillet and the plate back over (together), so the uncooked side of the frittata falls into the skillet.  That way, you don’t break it up or make a mess, while you get a fried surface to both the top and the bottom. 

Method #2:  Use a cast iron skillet.  Cook the frittata on the bottom to a certain degree, then put the entire pan it under the broiler (about 4 inches away) which will glaze over the top and puff it up.

Method #3:  It is also possible to bake the frittata after it is pretty much cooked on one side and sauced.  Only the eggs are poured into the skillet; you poke at them (do not stir).  When it is cooked and solid like an omelet, take it out and line it with (for example) spinach and pine nuts, then roll it up and put it seam side down in an oven proof dish and bake.  This is called “frittata a rotolato;” to serve, slice it like a jelly roll.  Other variations involve making elaborate sauces.  With cheese, or tomatoes. 

Frittatas can also be eaten cold, and served as antipasto, cut into wedges or squares. 

How do you deal with the possibility that your frittata will be overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside?  Don’t use too high a fire.

NEAPOLITAN FRIED SPAGHETTI FRITTATA

Make a sauce of

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

• 2 crushed cloves of garlic

• ½ cup chopped tomato

• ¼ cup sliced black pitted olives (calamata olives preferred)

• 1 tsp. capers (chopped)

Simmer these ingredients for a few minutes to make a quick tomato sauce.   Then take:

• 3 eggs

• ½ lb. dry spaghetti cooked al dente

• Parmesan cheese

Mix all the ingredients together and add to skillet.  Brown on one side, and then on the second side (using method #1). 

COLD FRITTATA WITH ASPARAGUS TIPS

The best ingredients for frittata  are simple and straightforward, especially vegetables. One simple recipe for cold frittata is made with asparagus tips.  Take fresh asparagus and cut the tips up fine.  Sauté some onions in olive oil.  Mix together six eggs, the onions, ½ cup parmesan cheese, and the asparagus, and cook the bottom in a cast iron skillet, then finish the top under the broiler.  Let it cool, drizzle olive oil over it, and slice and serve cold.

A caller from Marshall reported that on vacation at the French Riviera he was served a pasta dish with a whole raw yolk of egg in a half shell on top.  This is something like a carbonara: the hot pasta will cook that raw yolk, but not hard.  Tip the egg into the middle of the pasta and slowly stir and incorporate it into the sauce. 

BAKED PASTA WITH WHITE SAUCE (ROUX)

A caller from Urbana was seeking a baked spaghetti recipe to take to a potluck, possibly with a marinara sauce.  She found a recipe that calls for cream of mushroom soup which she would like to avoid.  What are general guidelines for baked spaghetti?  Doyle suggests a nice white sauce made with butter and flour as a roux, and milk; or use milk and flour only and cook and stir it up.  Mix the cooked spaghetti with the sauce – the white sauce stirred together with the tomato sauce all combined – then put it into a greased loaf pan, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top which will form a nice crust when it is baked.  Heat it until the cheese is browned, you don’t need to further cook anything, since the ingredients are already cooked, ½ hour at 350° at most.

An off-air question came in asking for a thumbnail description of making a roux:  how do you work in the flour without ending up with lumps?  Use equal amounts of fat (butter or margarine) and flour (Wondra, a precooked flour, is okay and blends very well without lumps).  Cook in a saucepan for several minutes until it foams up, then pour in milk (for a béchamel) or broth (for a velouté).  Then after you’ve made the velouté, add milk or after you’ve make the béchamel, add broth, nevertheless, they are two different sauces!  The secret is half and half of flour and fat.  Always use a whisk to keep it smoothed up.

A caller from Effingham elaborated on this:  for a white sauce, combine the margarine and flour and then let it cool down before adding the milk.  Alternatively, heat the milk up a bit so that it’s not a shock to the hot fat and flour.