Egging Me On

I have been going to an Italian class for about a year now, and loving it. Once in a while, we would try to get together for lunch or dinner, or a potluck. So far, I have missed all of those except for one. So when my teacher Petra found another date to have a potluck dinner, I plotted out the Saturday.

I would go pick up my new car in the morning, cook in the afternoon, and attend the potluck that evening. I went with something Italian that would be easy to make, transport, and share. While I had successfully made Rachel Ray's Pasta Carbonara Tartlets in the past, I thought I'd try out Giada's recipe from Giada's Kitchen cookbook this time around.

But then while I was at the dealership, potluck dinner had moved up to lunch. I missed it. Again.

Moreover, I found myself Sunday morning staring into the fridge full of ingredients.



Ah, what the hell. Let's make a big ol' frittata in the cast iron skillet for brunch then.

It was a total hit. Brandon and I ate it again for dinner that night. That was just how addictive this was. And it was a good thing there were plenty leftover to satiate the need.

Do NOT let the list of ingredients scare you. There are quite a bit of components, but all you do is toss them together, stick it in the oven, top it off in the broiler, and that’s that!

Oh, and I bought everything at Fresh & Easy in one trip. So, this is considered a Dinner: Possible as well.



Big' Ol' Cheesy Pasta Frittata
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis's Linguine and Prosciutto Frittata in Giada's Kitchen.

1/2 lb. linguine
7 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
6 oz. diced pancetta -- I use a pre-packaged pack from Fresh & Easy
About 1 cup of quartered bocconcinis -- about half of a 1/2 lb. tub.
1/2 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. grated cinnamon - secret ingredient!

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook and drain pasta, al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta. Cut with scissors into smaller pieces.

2. Cook pancetta in a cast iron skillet or other oven proof skillet until crispy. Take out the pancetta. Since we're baking the egg in this skillet, use the fat to grease the side and the bottom of the skillet. Discard the rest. (What I did is that I poured most of the fat out to a bowl, then use a pastry brush and went to town greasing the skillet.)

2. Preheat oven to 375F.

3. In blender (or you can get a good arm work out wisking it yourself!), combine the eggs, milk, cream, and mascarpone. Transfer to a large bowl, stir to combine pasta, pancetta, mozzarella, Asiago, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper, and nutmeg.



4. Pour the mixture into the skillet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm and starting to brown. Switch the oven to broil and broil for a 2-3 minutes until the top is brown.



5. Slice and serve. Great for dinner and lunch too!