To continue this week’s Mother’s Day Brunch recap I bring you the second recipe I prepared for that special day. A frittata is a type of Italian omelette, the main difference between the traditional omelette as many American’s know and the frittata is the way in which it is prepared.

A frittata was originally prepared by partially cooking on the stove and was finished on the grill. While this may produce a slightly better tasting outcome, now a days it is significantly easier to prepare fully on the stove. A frittata pan can be found at many retailers throughout the country; however, they are generally extremely expensive.

The difference between a frittata pan and a regular pan is the fact that it has two pans on top of each other which have been locked in the back on a hinge to make it easier to flip without spilling. I personally do not own one of these pans as I don’t feel that shelling out $150 on a pan that has only one purpose is a great idea. I like to take two pans (that are of the same size) and put them over each other. This is fully capable of yielding you the same final results only less expensive as you can see above.

I found this recipe a while back on the Williams-Sonoma website while I was doing a little online shopping for my kitchen. I made some slight adjustments and produced a result that anyone’s mother would adore! I decided to make this recipe for two reasons. The first being that asparagus is currently in season, and the second being that you can easily add or subtract ingredients within a frittata to create completely different flavor combinations without significantly changing the structured output. Experimenting is highly encouraged!

The first step in creating a frittata is preparing your egg mixture. For this particular frittata we used eggs, chives, tarragon and pancetta (oh how I love pancetta; the saltiness of this meat really adds great character to the dish!)

Once the eggs have been mixed thoroughly we add the goat cheese and asparagus. Adding this now instead of the step before will keep the goat cheese from becoming dissolved in the mixture as you beat the eggs and will give you small spots of cheesy gooeyness! You will then put this in your improvised frittata pan and cook for 8 minutes. Flip, and cook for another 10 minutes, then flip again…..

Place your fully cooked frittata on a serving platter and let it cool. Your frittata, or fancy omelette as my wife refers to them as, will be perfectly prepared and ready to devour. Bon appetite!

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Frittata
Adjusted slightly from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 3 Tbs. finely chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 tsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 3 oz. cubed pancetta
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 6 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
• 2 lb. asparagus, tough ends trimmed, spears steamed until just tender and cooled
• 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 leek, thinly sliced and rinsed well

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, chives, tarragon, pancetta, the 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper. Stir in 4 oz. of the cheese. Cut enough asparagus ends into 1/4-inch lengths to measure 3/4 cup and add to the egg mixture. Reserve the remaining asparagus spears.
2. In the deep half of a frittata pan over medium heat, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter. Add the leek and salt and cook until the leek is tender, about 8 minutes. Transfer to the egg mixture.
3. In the deep half of the frittata pan over medium heat, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter. Add the egg mixture and cook, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula to allow the uncooked eggs to flow underneath, 3 to 4 minutes. Place the shallow pan upside down on top of the deep pan and cook for 6 to 8 minutes more.
4. Remove from the heat, uncover the deep pan and arrange the reserved asparagus spears on top of the frittata in a spoke formation. Meanwhile, set the shallow half of the pan over medium heat and melt the remaining 1 Tbs. butter.
5. Place the shallow pan upside down on top of the deep pan and flip the frittata into the shallow pan. Cook, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip the frittata back into the deep pan, then slide the frittata onto a serving plate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Top the frittata with the remaining cheese and serve.