Going out with girl friends is always fun...more so for "S" as he gets his favourite meal, some me-time in his couch ,his laptop, Tele playing some weird flick and a bottle of beer. So last week when I had a day-out planned I made him his favourite Fritta and also left him with a box of this very summery Raspberry-Blackberry-Amarretti Cake (have shared the pictures below) that I made for a dinner with friends.
Frittata (Italian) is a dish similar to omlettes with any kind of filling like vegetables or meat. Italians also make Frittatas out of left-over pasta. Unlike omlettes you can serve them hot or cold and are perfect picnic food. They can be cooked in a frying pan on stove or can be cooked half-way on stove and then finish-off under the grill or in oven. I used Prestige oven proof pan and baked it in the oven with some cheese on top. This recipe is very forgiving so add or omit any vegetable or meat you like.
For the FrittataIngredients:
Free Range Eggs - 5
Cream - 1 tbsp
Cream Cheese - 1 tbsp
Potato - 1 cubed
Leeks - 1 sliced and washed thoroughly
Bell Pepper - 1/2 chopped
Spinach - a handful chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan - 1/4 cup
Olive Oil Oil - 2 tsp
Method:
Sauté the vegetables along with salt and pepper in olive oil until the potatoes are slightly cooked. Taste for seasoning. Let it cool slightly. Preheat the oven to 180C. Meanwhile whisk the eggs with cream, cream cheese, salt, pepper and add the cooked vegetables to this. Heat 1tsp of oil in a non-stick pan and pour this mixture and cook it until slightly done. Sprinkle some grated parmesan over the top and bake this in the oven until skewer inserted comes out clean. If you do not want to use the oven flip the frittata onto a plate and slide it back into the pan and cook the other side till done on the stove-top.
Verdict: "S" enjoyed his frittata and swapped it for his breakfast cereals and also had it for lunch. He liked the subtle onion taste from leeks, wholesomeness from the potatoes, spicy kick from the peppers, creaminess from eggs and cheese. I do not eat eggs in any savoury form to give you a verdict, so have to go with "S"s comments. But I loved the cake. I have also made a Chocolate Amaretti cake before but this time wanted to make use of the summer fruits and it tasted divine. Crunchy and sweet from the Amaretti cookies but perfectly balanced with use of berries. To satisfy the naughty side of me I added a handful of chopped chocolate and a dash of Amaretto liqueur for extra-kick!