Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Spring Onion Frittata

I’ve changed this recipe from the original in a couple of places. First, you can buy prosciutto di Parma from any good grocery store, but usually I just use bacon which I cook until crisp and then crumble. I always keep bacon in the freezer for seasoning these kind of dishes. It’s really easy to cut frozen bacon into small dice for frying. The second change is that here as in many, many recipes we are told to put asparagus into boiling water and cook until tender. If you do that, you lose nutrients to the water and you water log the spears. It’s so much better to steam it. BTW, this recipe is from some cookbook, somewhere, but I’ve lost all the info and if anyone knows it’s origin, I will give the credits when I learn them.

Ingredients

½ pound small red potatoes, unpeeled
about 6 large asparagus spears, peel the ends
1 cup finely sliced spring green onions
8 whole eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped herbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into several small pieces
3 ounces prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced and cut into strips
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled into small pieces

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375°

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes over high heat until tender when poerced with the tip of a knife, about 15 minutes. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, thickly slice. Set aside.

2. Steam the asparagus spears for just 2 or 3 minutes, cool them in ice water to stop the cooking and set the color. Slice them crosswise into bite size pieces. Set aside.

3. Saute the onions just until softened in about 1 tablespoon of butter.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and heavy cream until thoroughly mixed. Stir in the spring onions and the herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. In a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof sauté pan, spread the reserved asparagus pieces. Place the pan over medium heat and distribute the butter throughout the asparagus. When they begin to sizzle in the pan, after about 2 minutes, whisk the egg mixture to recombine and pour over the asparagus in the pan. Evenly distribute the prosciutto, potatoes, and goat cheese pieces around the pan, being sure not to neglect the outer edges. Cook for 2 minutes.

6. Transfer the pan to the hot oven and bake until fully set, about 12 minutes. It will be a little loose in the center. Pass the pan under the broiler for 1 minute, or until the fritta is lightly browned on top. Invert it onto a warm serving plate, slice into wedges, and serve immediately. You can also serve it at room temperature.

Serves 4

Last updated: March 20, 2007