caramelized shallot & mushroom frittata
breakfast, lunch, and dinner all in one recipe
Hi all,
Frittatas are one of those dishes that I don’t make often, but every time I do I remember the brilliance of the concept and vow that I’ll adopt them into my regular routine. Hailing from Italy, frittatas were originally intended as a way to use up yesterday’s leftovers (yes, even pasta) by binding them together with egg and dairy. That’s still a common use for them now, although you can certainly make one with fresh produce if you prefer. The beauty of the dish is that it works well for any time of the day, tastes good (even preferable) when chilled, and can feed a crowd easily or provide days worth of snacks for one person. I’ve had a constant supply in the fridge this week while I’ve been recipe testing and it has been so handy - a slice carried out the door when I’m running late, a slice for my friend and I after the pubs, a slice alongside a green salad at lunchtime.
I’m sharing a recipe here which is something I would choose when starting from scratch, but I do encourage you to embrace the leftovers-approach to the frittata. Anything you have waiting in the fridge for another life - drooping greens, roast vegetables, meat, cheese, tofu, any similar remains from another meal - can all be revived with the addition of eggs in the oven. At a basic level, all you need is cooked fillings so that excess moisture is removed, tough produce is softened, and any meat is properly browned and cooked through. If you’re using leftovers, that’s likely all done already, so you simply need to whisk in the eggs. The general formula I use is:
alliums + veg + additional protein (optional) + dairy + egg
You’re looking for about as much filling as you have egg, and enough volume to fill your oven-safe pan to at least 2cm or so in depth. Here are some other combinations I considered that you might use as inspiration:
leeks + asparagus + parsley + gruyere
shallot + zucchini + basil + goat cheese
scallions + spinach + cheddar
onions + tomato + basil + mozzarella
Today’s recipe is a combination I often make as a pasta sauce (minus the egg), so it fits nicely with the Italian leftovers inspiration. It begins with a mixture of mushrooms, cooked down until all of the liquid has evaporated and you’re left with deeply browned, concentrated earthy flavor. Then caramelized shallots lend their sweetness, and herbs their freshness. Some of you may have seen me caramelize onions for two hours the other day - rest assured I will not ask you to do that here, although it would be delicious, and then you could also make this ideal grilled cheese… but I can be reasonable, in this version we’ll just caramelize for 10ish minutes so that you can move on with your day. We’ll use two forms of dairy - crème fraîche for a slightly tart creaminess, plus parmigiano for umami/salty flavor - all mixed together with whisked eggs to create a pie that tastes good for days to come.
Caramelized shallot & mushroom frittata
Ingredients:
~200g mixed mushrooms (I used oyster and chestnut)
2 shallots
~25g flat leaf parsley
100g crème fraîche (sub full-fat greek yogurt)
~50g parmigiano reggiano
6+ eggs (depends on the width of your pan, I used 6 eggs for a 10in pan)
salt
butter
olive oil
Method:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Chop mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and add to an oven-safe pan with 1T olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Toss through, and bring up to medium heat on the stove. Note that this will look like a lot of mushrooms, but they will shrink significantly as they cook. Sauté, stirring occasionally, as the moisture releases and then they become deeply golden brown, 10ish minutes.
Meanwhile, chop off any thicker tough ends of the parsley, then mince the remaining stems and leaves. Add the minced stems to the sautéed mushrooms along with 1T butter and stir through until fully melted, then let it sizzle with the heat off for another minute or so. Add the minced leaves, stir, then remove the whole mushroom mix from the pan and set aside.
Slice the shallots lengthwise, then in perpendicular slices so that you create half-moons. Add to the same oven-safe sauté pan (no need to clean it out) along with a generous pinch of salt and 1T olive oil, and sauté on low heat. As the shallots release their moisture they will start to pick up the mushroom-y bits from the bottom of the pan, so that eventually you’ll have softened pieces browned with mushroom flavor, and a relatively clear pan underneath. Continue cooking on very low heat as the shallots brown further, about 10 minutes. Add to the mushroom mixture set aside, and turn off the heat.
Whisk the eggs together along with a pinch of salt, then add the crème fraîche and whisk again. Grate in the parmigiano, mix. Add the mushrooms/shallot/parsley, and mix a final time. Bring the heat on the sauté pan back to medium-low, and butter the base and sides fully. Pour in the eggs, and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly. Be careful with the heat here - you don’t want to scramble the eggs now, just get them started cooking evenly before they reach the oven.
Put the pan in the pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove when the egg is beginning to brown and looks mostly set, changing positions in the oven if necessary to ensure even cooking. After removing, let sit for at least 15 minutes to rest before serving. Serve alongside a simple salad, such as arugula dressed with salt, lemon, olive oil, and parmigiano.
Have a great week,
Susanna