My original intention was to prepare a wonderful zucchini frittata last night, but when I realized that I had some very ripe tomatoes sitting on my counter top, the “zucchini” frittata transformed into a “tomato and zucchini” frittata. It’s all for the best though because the tomatoes add a really nice look and some good flavor. Just look at the photos of this thing. Now that’s a frittata!
The Recipe
I took a few liberties during the preparation of this dish. I used 12 eggs instead of eight, I used a lot of zucchini and much more Parmesan than I was supposed to. Hey, what can I say? I’ll tell you this though – the result was better than I expected. Of course I enjoy more over less and the Parmesan added the flavor I was looking for. And since we still have about 20 zucchini sitting around from the garden, I was able to use up an entire one. It was pretty big too.
The flavors are there in this frittata. Much of it is derived from the Parmesan and the salt that accentuates the flavors of the vegetables. I’ll tell you though, a lot of flavor stems from the cooking method as well. The onion and zucchini need to be browned and the entire skillet needs to stay in the oven long enough for the eggs to brown as well. It’s that browning that offers a bit of sweetness, so don’t overlook that.
Ingredients
Serves: 8
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Large Sweet Onion, Chopped
1 Large Zucchini, Sliced into 1/4 Inch Rounds
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
12 Large Eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
3 Medium Sized Tomatoes, Cored and Sliced Thinly
Step-by-Step Instructions
I’d like to thank Martha Stewart for this recipe. It’s wonderful and I’m sure I’ll be back to her website for more recipes in the future.
Pre-Heat the Oven
Arrange your oven racks so one of them is in the center position. Then, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare Egg Mixture
In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Whisk these ingredients together well.
Brown the Zucchini & Onion
Warm a large 12″ cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil to it and then add in the sliced zucchini, thyme and the chopped onion. Place the cover on the skillet and let the vegetables cook for about five minutes. Remove the cover, mix the veggies up and replace the cover again. Let cook for another five minutes. Doing this releases a lot of the liquid these vegetables are holding. After this time, remove the lid and let the liquid from the pan steam off. This should take between five and ten minutes. The vegetables should brown as well. When it’s all steamed, move onto the next step.
Combine Ingredients & Cook
Next, add the egg mixture to the cast iron skillet. Pour the eggs right over the zucchini and onion. Then, arrange the tomatoes in an overlapping fashion like I did in the photo below. You should be able to fit all three tomatoes on there.
After that, reduce the heat to medium-low on the stove top. Allow the eggs in the skillet to firm up on the bottom and the sides. This should take between five to ten minutes. You’ll see the semi-cooked eggs creep up the sides after that time. When this happens, turn off the stove top heat and place the skillet in the oven. Keep it in there for about 20 minutes or until you see the center of the eggs firm up and the edges brown nicely. When it’s finished, remove the frittata from the oven.
Plate & Serve
Last night, I discovered that if you let the skillet cool for about ten minutes, the frittata shrinks and pops right off the sides. It loosens itself, so I recommend you let everything cool for a while. Then, cut into it and slice eight pieces. Plate, serve and enjoy!
The Final Tomato & Zucchini Frittata
I really do love frittatas. They’re difficult to screw up and they’re just filling enough to enjoy for dinner. Of course, they’re great for breakfast too, but we usually eat them for dinner. This is one of my favorite frittata recipes. It looks very good and tastes good too. If you decide to try this recipe out, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!
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