B Certain Texas

A friend of mine recently posted about trying to fix a frittata for the first time. It brought back many memories for me as this was one of my first recipes that I really experimented with. I saw Jeff Smith on the PBS show “The Frugal Gourmet” fix a Spaghetti Frittata and said to myself, I can fix that. Now this was around 1989 - 1990 before I knew that was this thing called the internet was and certainly it was in its beginning stages. There was nowhere to go and “look up” a recipe. You had to have someone show you how to cook it (Thanks Mom) or you had to go out and buy a cookbook and hope that you could figure it out on your own. Jeff was the first cooking show that I watched and picked up a lot of great tips and techniques from. I own 5 or 6 of his cookbooks that I still pull out to this day. I would actually record his shows on my VCR (yes I know that I am showing my age) and watch them when I got home that night. He would actually go through almost all of the recipes in the cookbooks with great detail on techniques and ingredients'. I still remember one of the things that he used to say that I am now teaching Cooper when we cook together�”Hot pan, Cold oil - Never stick”. Try it� you will be amazed at how well it works.
The Spaghetti Frittata was a recipe that I fell in love with from the first time I fixed it. It met all of my hot buttons as far as my taste buds go. Pasta, olive oil, garlic, caramelized onions and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Here is the “original recipe” or as close as I remember it without a cookbook
Ingredients
Angel Hair Pasta about a silver dollars worth
Garlic 5 or 6 cloves - Fresh, Chopped
Olive Oil 5 or 6 tablespoons
Onions 2 large yellow (I really like the Texas 1015 or the Georgia Vidalia's)
Red Pepper Flakes 1 teaspoon
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese ½ cup
Eggs 4 large

All of the ingredients are approximate are I am doing this from memory. If you have ever been with me when I cook you KNOW I never measure ANYTHING.

Boil the pasta in water with 3-4 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the water. The water needs to be slightly salty to the taste. You have to remember that you are trying to approximate sea water. The oil will allow the pasta to cook without sticking together so much. Cook the pasta until “al dente” or cooked just long enough to be still firm, and not too soft. Drain thoroughly and put aside.

Peel and slice your onions. What I do is I ALWAYS cut off the root end first - then the tops (I don't know if it really helps with the sulphur but I NEVER tear up when I cut up onions this way). I then cut the onion in half from top to bottom and then thinly slice each half. Heat your skillet pan up until it is hot, but not scorching. Put in enough olive oil to give a light coating on the bottom of your pan. Add onions and stir (or toss) until the onions are lightly coated in the olive oil. Cut your heat to medium and stir occasionally. You are trying for a light or dark brown color on your onions(depending on your taste). After about 15 minutes add the garlic and stir into the onions. (Now Tammy and I LOVE garlic. So add to your own taste. I have given you less garlic in the ingredient list than I would add.) After 5 more minutes add the Red Pepper Flakes and stir together. (If you and yours don't like a lot of heat in your cooking or you are cooking for small ones, then you can leave this out). Remove from the heat when the onions are done to your taste.

In a large mixing bowl, break and scramble the eggs. The eggs are there as a binding agent. Add ½ of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese to the eggs and scramble thoroughly. Add the cooked pasta to the bowl and thoroughly coat the pasta in the egg and cheese mixture. Then fold in the onion mixture with the pasta and mix well.

Heat the skillet back up and put in a little more olive oil. Pour the pasta and onion mixture into the pan. Stir or shake the pasta occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan but you want to pasta to develop a little crunchiness to it.

After about 10 - 15 minutes comes the fun part. You can either take the easy way out or join in with the pros. The easy way is to add the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese to the top of the dish and put under a 500 degree broiler in your oven to get the top crunchy as well, (Just make sure that your pan is oven proof - metal handle) about 10-15 minutes. Or you can join the pros by flipping the entire dish over ala omelet style. I will tell you that this takes practice, a sure hand, boldness and confidence. If you are lacking in any of these areas as you do the flip, you will be cleaning up your stovetop. Sometimes a little and sometimes a lot . You start by shaking the pan to make sure that the pasta is not stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then in one clean motion you will flip the pasta over catching it in the pan on the other side. After you flip the dish over add the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and let it melt on top as you get the now bottom side golden brown. About 10 - 15 minutes.

The top and bottom should now be golden brown and have a nice crust on both sides with the middle firm but not crunchy. Cut the Frittata into pie shaped pieces and serve. You should have enough left over for leftovers the next day.

This makes a great vegetarian meal as it is, but does not feel like it. If you want, you can add any number of things to the recipe to “kick it up”.

I have added
leftover grilled chicken - chopped up
pesto - email me and I will send you my recipe for that as well
cut up rotisserie chicken
any leftover beef or pork

Your pan becomes your pallet upon which to paint yours and your family taste buds. Let me know if this works for you and what alterations you make to the recipe.
Bon appétit