November 29, 2011

Baked Leek & Spinach Frittata



Remember when I went to France three months ago? Yeah, I can't believe it's been that long either.





I finally organized all my pictures from my travels, including my Really Long Backpacking Trip in Asia from 2009. I know. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. I took some really amazing pictures in China that I eventually want to share with you, but let's take baby steps and start with France.





I didn't quite know where to start since I took almost 4 gigs of photos of my time on the farm, Paris, and an absurd amount of food-related photography (my meals, cheese, bread, macarons, etc.) It seemed most logical to start from the very beginning.


The view from my bedroom window.


I was introduced to how to eat an artichoke properly. They were huge, much larger than the ones I've seen at the supermarket. I was also introduced to beets. Where have they been ALL MY LIFE? I bought some recently and attempted to preserve them like how I had them on the farm, but it wasn't quite the same.


I was there for the height of tomato season and spent hours (days) picking these lovely fruits. So good! We also spent several afternoons preserving them as well as turning them into tomato juice.


In Flanders fields the poppies blow; between the crosses, row on row.




Saturday mornings were spent selling the produce at the market.


Occasionally we ate outside, with the calf moo-ing and sheeps baa-ing in the background.




This dish was inspired by the delicious quiches that were prepared during my stay. I didn't have time to make a crust, so the dish became a frittata. I don't own a cast iron skillet, so the frittata was baked in a pie dish. It's all about working with what you have.


Baked Leek & Spinach Frittata
Adapted from Bon Appétit

I only had 7 eggs left in the fridge, so I went with that. I bought some lovely hard cheese (Monforte's Toscano) and the sweetest spinach from the farmers' market, so they went into this dish. This frittata turned out really amazing, and it's quite tasty at room temperature.

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup minced parsley
7 large eggs
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and saute for 4 minutes. Add spinach, sprinkle lightly with salt and saute until tender. Remove from heat.

Whisk eggs, parsley, 3/4 cup cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper in bowl.

Place leeks and spinach in a pie dish. Pour in egg mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top.

Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until eggs look set. Turn broiler on and broil until cheese begins to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

4 comments:

  1. What is the proper way to eat artichoke?

    I love artichoke, but haven't used it much in cooking.

    I've been trying to make extra pie shells to put in the freezer, so that making quiche and pie don't turn into a lot of work, I need to keep up with that, though.  This looks like a very delicious and easy dish.

    ReplyDelete
  2. cant wait to try this :-)))) Thank you 

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is how we ate the artichoke: pull off the leaves and bite off the bit of meat at the bottom (the rest is inedible and you can chuck that) until you get to the middle; pull out the fuzzy choke and you can dive into the rest of it (the heart).  It is a tedious vegetable to eat and there's so little of the heart to make the trouble worth it, IMO.  I'm sure there are other ways to eat an artichoke and if you find a more efficient way, let me know!

    ReplyDelete