Saturday Night Range Cooking

Want an easy  and light breakfast or supper?  Make a frittata.  A frittata is pretty much an omelet, but one that is usually baked in the oven, not on top of the stove. I have made many omelets on top of the stove.  They are known at the Range as "scrambled eggs".

But unlike my omelets, frittatas are easy to make, baked in the oven and full of protein and a good way to use of bits of meat and veggie leftovers.

It's the perfect meal when you've been traveling far away, and are home, with little in the fridge but eggs and a few things and just want a light meal because you're tired.

All you are going to need is:

2 jumbo eggs per person
2 Tablespoons cream per person
a half cup of sautéed meat and/or veggies
salt, pepper and a dash of your favorite herbs
an oven proof one-cup ramekin  or dish per person

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a small pan, saute your meat and veggies (I went for onion, green pepper and fresh garlic) in a small splash of olive oil, stirring over medium heat until slightly softened.  Remove from heat.

Lightly coat your oven dish with oil or non stick spray.  Use an individual ramekin, or ovenproof dish such as the $2.99 Crate and Barrel five inch Crème Brule dishes.  You're looking for something 5 inches across or less.  If you don't have anything like that, you can make several mini Frittatis using a muffin tin, just reduce the cook time by a minute or two..

Place the lightly cooked veggies (with meat if using) in your pan.  In a cereal bowl, whisk eggs and cream until fluffy and well combined and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a dash of herbs or crushed red pepper.  Pour half of the eggs over the veggies and if you like, sprinkle that with a bit of cheese (I used three thin slices of Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, a hard white, slightly sweet cheese) and top with remaining egg mixture.

You can use any diced veggie you like, any herb you like. Rosemary is good, any Italian herb, or spice it up with anchoor red chili. You really can't screw this up with any savory or spicy herb.

Bake the frittata(s) until they are puffy and the edges are golden brown and starting to just slightly pull away from the size of the pan, about 20 to 25 minutes for a single one. If you're adventuresome, take it out of the oven a couple minutes early and brown the top under the broiler with a  little parmesan sprinkled on top.