June recipe: Frittata

A frittata is a sort of cross between an omelette and a souffle. It makes an ideal dish for the summer months, being quick to cook so you don’t have to hover over a hot stove for too long, and susceptible to variation according to the available ingredients. This variant uses spring onions and mushrooms and is good served with a green salad. Later in the season you can use courgettes and sweet peppers and serve it with a tomato salad.









Bacon and spring onion frittata

Serves 2

Four spring onions (or half a small onion)
2 oz (approx 50 g) mushrooms
2 oz (approx 50 g) bacon
2 oz (approx 50 g) hard cheese (Cheddar works well), grated
3 eggs
Fresh herbs of your choice (I usually use parsley, thyme, marjoram or basil, depending on what’s growing well at the time), or dried mixed herbs if fresh herbs aren’t available

Trim and chop the spring onions.
Peel and slice the mushrooms.
Chop the bacon into narrow strips.
Beat the eggs in a jug, and stir in the grated cheese and chopped herbs.
Fry the onions, mushrooms and bacon in cooking oil in a frying pan over a medium heat until softened and starting to brown.
Season with salt and black pepper, and spread the mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the eggs and cheese, and tilt the pan if necessary so that the egg mixture runs out to the edges. Cook for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat until the bottom is set (you can tell by lifting the edge with a spatula and peeking underneath).
Remove from the heat, and place under a hot grill for a further 2-3 minutes until the top is puffy and golden brown.
Serve immediately with fresh bread and salad.

Best eaten in the garden on a warm summer’s evening, with the swifts screaming overhead like black-clad bikers roaring through a sleepy resort, blackbirds feeding their fledglings shoulder-deep in daisies on the uncut lawn, and a kamikaze wasp doing ineffectual backstroke in your wineglass before expiring with a slurred alcoholic buzz.