Asparagus Frittata « The Kitchen of Oz

Asparagus Frittata

Another hectic week is over and please forgive me for not making a new post due to lack of energy and motivation since the last one. I can honestly blame it all to the complicated situations taking place in the office environment and it is really difficult to keep your head up when one of your best friends at work is leaving for good. Is it enough? Of course not. Once the door of misfortune is opened, bad things will come after another like drizzling rain drops out of clear sky. Guess, where is the shelter? Did you say “Kitchen”? Absolutely right! Despite the fact that I could not write a new post, I was still working on new recipes and trying different combinations to share with you in the coming days.

One of these is asparagus frittata, a perfect stress-free recipe with a few ingredients and requiring a short time to prepare. A frittata is basically an unstirred and not-folded omelet cooked in the oven or in a skillet allowing you to flip both sides easily. Even though I preferred to use pickled green asparagus and pour it into silicon mold to give it a bit more sophisticated look, you may use your imagination to change the ingredients and use a mid-sized skillet. Personally I like the taste of asparagus in most of the dishes like a Cantonese style stir fried asparagus with beef or a French style steamed asparagus with hollandaise sauce or mayonnaise.

As opposed to popular belief white asparagus is not a variety, it is the same green asparagus grown in the absence of sunlight which is necessary to develop chlorophyll in the plant. White asparagus, being preferred in some parts of the Europe like Germany and Netherlands has a sweeter taste and less fiber than the green one. Only different version is the purple one but I had no chance to try it up till now since it is scarcely produced. Asparagus is high in folic acid, potassium and fiber, without containing any fat or cholesterol, and is low in sodium. All these features makes me like this odd shaped vegetable even more and keep a jar of asparagus in my refrigerator all the time.

Ingredients (makes 6 servings)

5 eggs
50 ml. milk
6-7 stalks of canned and drained green asparagus (you may use fresh ones after boiling till the stalks are tender, pay attention not to immerse the tip of the asparagus since these parts get soft very easily)
1 midsized potato
35-40 g. mozzarella cheese (half of one stick)
5-6 sprigs of chive
1 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (for frying)
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt

Instructions

1.	Peel the potato and finely dice.
2.	Fry the diced potato in a pan with the vegetable oil and set aside to cool down on a paper towel to take the excess oil.
3.	Cut the drained asparagus and mozzarella stick into pieces with similar size of diced potato.
4.	Chop the chive sprigs into small pieces.
5.	Add five eggs, milk, mustard, and a pinch of salt to a bowl and mix well with the help of a hand mixer.
6.	Combine the dry ingredients (potato, asparagus, mozzarella cheese and chive) with the egg mixture; add the fresh ground pepper and more salt according to your taste.
7.	Lightly oil a silicon mold (like the one used for baking muffins) and split the mixture equally to between pieces of the mold.
8.	Bake the frittatas in an oven preheated to 180C (356 F) for 20-25 minutes.
9.	Take the pieces out of the mold and serve with some garnish like cherry tomatoes or fresh green salad leaves.
10.	If you are going to use a heavy skillet (that can be used in the oven too) for cooking; put some oil in the skillet and heat it up first. Pour the combined mixture and cook on low heat until the lower part gains a golden color. Take the skillet into the oven and use the grilling function of your oven (or turn on the upper resistance only) to attain the same color on the upper side. Cut into triangular pieces and serve right away with some garnish.