I love a good frittata. Eggs, pasta and cheese baked together to form a congealed slice of dense goodness. Yum. Unlike a quiche that requires a pie dough, or an egg strata that requires the night before preparation, a frittata can be made right then and there… unless you want to make it in advance. That works, too.
You can combine any sort of yummy combination of ingredients. For this pasta frittata I combined prosciutto, spinach, cheese and chives. Of course, you can use potatoes instead of pasta… but I like any excuse to have pasta for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner – great any time of the day! What combination is your favorite? I’m planning to make a Chicken Pasta Carbonara version soon… I think Mike will love it.
Prosciutto & Spinach Frittata serves 6
1/2 pound of pasta
1/4 pound of proscuitto, thinly sliced
3 cups of spinach, uncooked (1/2 cup of cooked/frozen)
6 eggs
1 cup of half and half
2 cups of shredded cheese
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/3 teaspoon of cracked pepper
2 tablespoons of chives
sauce :
1 cup of cheese
1/4 cup of milk or half-and-half
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water 2-3 minutes short of the instructed time. If you are using fresh spinach, throw it into the boiling water with the pasta for the last 15 seconds. Drain. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, cheese, salt and pepper, and chives. Cut proscuitto into thin strips. Add proscuitto, pasta and spinach to the egg mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into a deep pie plate or casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing.
For cheese sauce, microwave milk for 30 seconds, stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese. Continue to stir until smooth. Slice into wedges to serve with cheese sauce drizzled over.
I used a fontina cheese in the frittata – you can use anything the melts nicely.
Eggs and half-and-half mixed together.
Ready to go in the oven!
