Garden herb frittata with Parmigiano cheese sauce

The garden herb frittata recipe confirms what I have been thinking for some time.

The way a person cooks changes.

How I have changed, even in the kitchen

Over time, it is enriched as we try new recipes and undergo contamination. It suffers trends, seasons, and necessities.

Today’s cooking tends to be very sophisticated or, on the contrary, over-simplified in a way that makes one to lose sight of the pleasure of simplicity in the first case, or of cooking, in the second.

I don’t love dishes with too many ingredients and a very long sequence of micro preparations.
I prefer recipes of substance. They have a linear execution that suits me.
And if they need long cooking, I save them for the weekend.

Overly simplified recipes also do not appeal to me. Open a package, assemble and cook.
Of course, when I’m in a hurry, it also happens to me to choose quick recipe.

Usually, I opt for making a simple pasta, egg dish, or seasonal salad, which, even if it is “only” vegetables, means cooking. An action that starts from the moment I stop to think about what I’d like eating and continues with grocery shopping.

My today kitchen

The organization is also less frenetic. During the week I prefer easy dishes. I choose a weekend cooking project when I have time to cook and read cuisine books or old cookbooks.

The weekend project embraces the preparation of new and traditional recipes that require more time (such as lasagna or Bolognese ragù).

I devote time to experimentation. The recipes for vegetarian stews of artichokes and shiitake mushrooms, a recipe that usually wants meat, came about this way: mixing cooking and ingredients (find both on the blog, in the main dish section, HERE).
I assure you that the vegetables substitute excellently for the animal ingredient.

And while I enjoy experimenting, I think it is important and equally challenging not to forget my culinary traditions.

Since I have started writing this blog, I have cooked many dishes from my tradition that I did not know. How many exotic recipes have I made in my life, forgetting to explore my backyard!

Finally, I am rediscovering ingredients I have never used before. Or use it differently.

In short, I feel I can say that my cooking today is more conscious, rich, and varied than a few years ago.

Garden herb frittata

Take this recipe.

I like frittata and cook it often.
But this is the first time I’ve made a frittata using garden herbs like grandma used to do when she mixed eggs with ever-changing herbs, depending on what the garden offered.

Herbs are one of the ingredients I am re-embracing and rediscovering.
On my childhood table, they were utilized in many dishes. Then, for many years, I have just used the most common aromatic herbs without much imagination, just to flavor. Thanks to a more curious approach to cooking, I now use spontaneous herbs and aromatics that I had forgotten. More importantly, they have become a star ingredient of my kitchen.

Returning to the frittata, I changed the size to make the dish more attractive.
I can see it on your summer table, for a meal on the terrace, or perhaps under a grape arbor.

I recommend enjoying frittatine and serving them cold. I like to form a dome and present it on a salad with Parmigiano sauce on the side and at room temperature. Or perhaps with a simple salad, depending on your taste and time.

You can also decide to make two large frittata and then cut them into 4 parts.

I used leek, bladder campion, radish leaves, and parsley, but you choose from your favorite herbs and, of course, aromatics: mint, basil, arugula, and marjoram. The choice is open.

Buona cucina, Monica

Cook with me

If you like frittata, on the blog, you will find the one with mortadella (HERE) and the frittata roll, which, especially in summer, is a classic (HERE). Also part of the frittata family is the tripe frittata. It is a fake tripe frittata and a traditional Italian peasant recipe (HERE).

Herbs

If you are curious about bladder campion, I talk about this spontaneous herb in the risotto recipe I prepared using it (HERE).

Garden herb frittata with Parmigiano cheese sauce

serves 2
List of the Ingredients

Herb frittata
eggs, 3
milk or heavy cream, 150ml
leaves of a bunch of radish
leek, 1/2
parsley, one handful of leaves
bladder campion, 50 g
olive oil and salt to taste

Parmigiano sauce
grated Parmigiano cheese, 70g
butter, 50g
vegetable broth, 300 ml
potato starch, 20g
olive oil and salt to taste

Directions

Wash and chop herbs and leek with a knife.

Cook the herb in a skillet with olive oil and salt. Keep aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with a tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt and the milk.
Add the herbs and stir.

You can cook the frittata in a regular pan, making two large frittate. Or, as I made, pour a generous ladleful into a small skillet until you get 8 to 10 frittatine.

The process is the same. Grease the bottom of the frying pan, or skillet, and turn the frittata when it comes off the bottom of the pan easily.

Place the herb frittatas on a plate and keep aside.

Parmigiano sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the starch and stir with a whisk. Remove the saucepan from the stove, add the broth, a little at a time, always stirring.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat and add the cheese and a pinch of salt. Stir and let cool.

Serve the garden herb frittata with Parmigiano sauce aside, both at room temperature. Warm the sauce if you prefer.