The bigger hit, Frittata

Along with the baked eggs, I served frittata at brunch. It’s an Italian omelet that’s started on the stove and finished in the oven. It is very time and ingredient friendly. The idea of preparing a frittata for the ladies originated the weekend before when I made one with smoked salmon, cream cheese and dill playing up on bagels, lox and cream cheese combination.


Green and Red Frittata

4 fresh eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon homemade basil pesto
1 medium (homegrown) tomato, diced
Olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1/4 bunch of swiss chard, torn into small pieces
small handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven on broil

Whisk 4 eggs in a bowl. Stir basil pesto, diced tomato, salt, and freshly cracked pepper into the eggs.

Heat olive oil in a 10 inch non stick, oven safe frying pan on medium low heat. (Many non sticks come with rubber handles- I wrap aluminum foil around the handle couple times and it works!) Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add swiss chard, or any other greens, to the pan and stir until it wilts. Remove the swiss chard and garlic from the pan. Pour the egg mixture into the empty pan. Cook few minutes until the edges are firm and they releases from the pan. Sprinkle parmesan cheese when the edges have set and the top is runny. Remove the pan from the stove and broil in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the top is set. Cut in pizza slice shape and serve hot or warm.

The swiss chard and tomatoes added a pungent and tart flavor while the pesto gave it a unique taste. It’s one of those dishes that is easy to prepare and has a huge wow factor too.

Since the frittata was gone before I could take pictures, here's something else that's as colorful.

summer time

It's such an amazing feeling to know that summer is here, almost. Though here in the midwest we didn't get a spring season this year; summer is certainly something to look forward to. Their are farmer's markets, picnics in the parks, short walks in the evening, fresh fruits and vegetables and most importantly fresh tomatoes and basil sauce for my gnocchi.

Speaking of gnocchi, I had left over gnocchi from my first attempt that I had to use before I forgot. The first thing that came to mind was tomato basil sauce. Though the hubby wanted a bechamel sauce with the gnocchi I wasn't convinced on the idea. And if I am cooking, what I say goes. Ha! Not really but I'd been craving a tomato and basil sauce for some time. Because he isn't a fan of tomato sauce, tomato curry, tomato anything for that matter; we don't cook it as often. This time, it would be nothing but.... Unfortuantely my local market didn't have fresh basil that day so I used dried. (I know, not good but I made an exception)

Gnocchi: use this previously posted recipe.

Sauce:

Olive oil
1 small onion or shallot
2 garlic cloves
1 tomato, diced
1/4 teaspoon sugar, optional
1/4 cup red wine
1 teaspoon dried basil or 3-4 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt, divided
Red pepper flakes
1 cup stock or water (cooking liquid)

Drizzle saute pan with olive oil and turn on the heat to medium-low. Add chopped onions and garlic to saute for few minutes. Then add salt to the mixture and cook until onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes, increase heat to medium and cook until the mixture starts bubbling. Add sugar and wine and allow to cook until alcohol evaporates. (the sugar breaks down the tomatoes' strong acidity.) Lower heat to low, add basil, salt, red pepper flakes and cooking liquid. Cook for 20-25 minutes until sauce is thickened.

Add gnocchi to the sauce, cook for few minutes and serve. We had this with a salad and it was the best way to have gnocchi and tomato basil sauced combined. Even the hubby agreed.

note: this recipe yields 1/2 cup of sauce, perfect amount for the amount of our gnocchi.

Since gnocchi is a form of pasta, this post is my submission to Ruth's exceptional pasta cooking event, Presto Pasta Night. Go check it out and join the pasta cooking fun. The weekly event is fun to read and offers great pasta recipes. It's a great resource for me, as I hope it is for you.