Food writer and Instagram star Elly Curshen is the owner of The Pear Cafe in Bristol. She eats a mostly vegetarian diet, with some fish, and loves frittatas. ‘We make one every day at the cafe. We start with eggs, potato and cheddar but then we experiment!’
See more of Elly Curshen’s recipes
Elly Curshen
Food writer and Instagram star Elly Curshen is the owner of The Pear Cafe in Bristol. She eats a mostly vegetarian diet, with some fish, and loves frittatas. ‘We make one every day at the cafe. We start with eggs, potato and cheddar but then we experiment!’
See more of Elly Curshen’s recipes
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Ingredients
1 x 200g pack radishes, top and tailed
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 16 thin wedges
2 tbsp butter
3½ tbsp olive oil
200g frozen leaf spinach
12 medium new potatoes, boiled until tender and cooled
6 large eggs
130g mature cheddar, grated
1 x 28g pack basil, leaves picked
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Put the radishes and onion in a small roasting dish and dot with half the butter. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the oil and roast at 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6 for 20-30 minutes, until the veg is browning at the edges and the onion is soft. Defrost the spinach according to the packet instructions but do not drain.
Slice the potatoes into thick discs. Heat the remaining butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a 20cm base diameter nonstick frying pan. Fry the potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown on both sides.
Break the eggs into a large jug and whisk well. Add a generous pinch of salt and a good few turns of black pepper. Whisk well and stir in the cheese. Rip the basil leaves roughly and add, along with the fried potatoes and undrained spinach, and fold together carefully.
Take the roast radishes and onion out of the oven and slice the radishes into halves. Mix the onion into the egg mix and reserve the radishes.
Preheat the grill. Wipe the frying pan with kitchen paper, then heat ½ tablespoon oil over a low-medium heat. When hot, pour in the egg mixture and swirl around to evenly distribute it. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, draw the edges in from the side of the pan, tip the pan and let the liquid egg flow into the gaps. This helps the whole thing set, rather than just the bottom of the frittata. Do this for 5 minutes, until almost set.
Scatter the radishes over the frittata, distributing them evenly. Place the pan under the grill (making sure the handle is not under the grill if it is plastic) and heat for 3-5 minutes until golden.
Remove and set aside to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Slide the frittata out gently onto a chopping board and set aside for 5 more minutes. To serve, slice into 6 or 8 pieces. This is very good served warm or cold.
Dairy, like milk or cream, is a crucial component of frittatas. This is the ingredient that gives frittatas their signature creamy, fluffy texture. Without this important addition, frittatas cook up flatter and a bit more dense. Follow this tip: After whisking the eggs together, be sure to whisk in some milk or cream.
If meat and vegetables figure into your frittata, cook them in the pan before you add your eggs—and I leave mine ever so slightly underdone. That way, they don't get soggy when they keep cooking in the oven (and I tend to like my vegetables with a little “bite” anyway, but it's a personal preference).
Cook the frittata in the oven just until the centre is no longer wobbly and the edges are golden-brown. If still unsure, place a knife into the centre of the frittata. If raw eggs run out, keep cooking. You want the eggs to be just set as the frittata will keep cooking while it's standing.
What Makes a Frittata Rise? Milk or cream is the essential ingredient that will make your frittata rise. Cooked without either milk or cream, the frittata will be flatter and less puffy. Add the milk or cream to the eggs and whisk them together until they are fluffy.
For a standard 12-egg frittata, stir in about one cup (shred it first). Want to top the eggs with cheese, too? Shoot for ¼ to ½ cup more. If it's an oozing texture you're after, pick cheeses that have superior melting quality: "This is your cheddar, gruyère, and fontina," says Perry.
Pre-seasoning the eggs with salt helps them retain moisture during cooking. Cooking the vegetables in batches gives us more control over their texture. Keeping the cheese in large chunks gives us oozy pockets in the frittata. Flipping the frittata ensures a creamy, dense center.
It's important to pull it from the oven before it's completely finished. The size of your pan is important- general rule of thumb- a 12 egg frittata should ideally be cooked in a 11-inch pan, a 6 egg frittata should be cooked in a 9-inch pan.
The green-gray color (and the whiff of sulfur smell that often accompanies it) comes from the reaction of iron in the egg yolk and sulfur in the egg white.
Adding a bit of dairy, whether it's cream or thick yogurt, is essential for getting the moisture and creaminess of the frittata just right. For every dozen eggs, use a half cup of dairy. It can be cream, whole milk, sour cream, yogurt, crème fraîche, even cottage cheese.
If you're serving your frittata as part of a bigger brunch, mimosas, classic french toast, banana bread, pancakes or muffins, French toast, baked oatmeal, overnight oats, blueberry scones, or fruit salad would all be great choices to go with it.
It can leave the dish soggy, keep it from holding its shape, and may even prevent your eggs from firming up entirely. To avoid falling into the "too much moisture" trap when prepping your next frittata, always completely drain any fresh ingredients before adding them to your pan.
Use the right number of eggs: If you underfill or overfill your skillet, the texture of the frittata may be compromised. Thin frittatas easily overcook; thick ones may cook too long on the outer edges before the inside is set. That leaves you with an eggy, spongy dish.
Use High quality eggs. There's no better way to get fluffy scrambled eggs than by making your scrambled eggs with a high quality egg, like a Happy Egg! ...
The solution is to partially cook the frittata on the stove. To prevent the bottom from burning on the stovetop, give the frittata a few stirs until you can see some large curds of egg and it starts to turn opaque, but it's still wet enough to flatten off the top.
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Prep time: 50 mins
