The Night I Didn’t Have a Dinner Plan, Had No Food in the House, and Didn’t Go Out to Eat. Also. How to make a Frittata.

Ok. So, I will admit, this happens to me fairly often.  The other night, it got to be 6:30, maybe even 7:00 and I was jolted out of whatever project I was working on by my 5 year old son, saying, “Mom, my stomach says that it is past supper time.” It was way past time. Not only did I have no plan, but I had not been to the grocery store for a long time and was down to just a few foods hanging out in the fridge.  Basically, we were down to eggs, a few pieces of bacon, milk, and cheese and a zucchini and tomato from the garden.

Having recently decided our stomachs and our budget could do with a hiatus from eating out, I started searching the pantry for anything else.  Then I remembered our dear friend frittatas.  If you have never tried these, you need to.  I will become your ace in the hole, quick weeknight, one skillet, easy clean up meal.  My veggie-averse kids eat it like crazy and don’t even pick the veggies out.  Its also a great fridge clean out food.  You can  use whatever veggies you have on hand that needs to be used.

Here’s how I make it.

Again, here are my starting ingredients:

9 eggs (10 would have been better, but beggars can’t be choosers)

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tablespoons or so of milk

4 1/2 pieces of bacon (1/2 was stolen by the hungry 5 year old)

1 zucchini

1 tomato

a little cooking oil

1.  First, I preheated the oven to 400 and preheated my skillet .  I put the skillet on the burner on low and let it heat up.  This helps the food not to stick later. I also cheated because it was late.  I cooked the bacon on paper towels in the microwave.
2. Next I shredded the zucchini.  I thought it would hide among the eggs better and my veggie-averse kids would have no choice (and be none the wiser) as they ate it.
3. Increasing the heat to medium, I put a little cooking oil (maybe a tablespoon) onto my preheated pan, let it heat up a bit, then added the shredded zucchini.
4. While the zucchini did its thing..(small side not about cast iron cooking–these pans are meant for searing.  So, the best thing to do is let it do its job.  Stirring constantly, will only make a mess. So stir, leave it alone for a bit, then come back and stir again.) I cracked the eggs into  a medium sized bowl, added the cheese and milk, and whisked away. I also used this time to crumble my now cooked bacon and slice the tomato into small wedges. 
5. Once the zucchini is cooked, I put it in the bowl with the eggs and whisk again.
6. If needed, I put a little bit more oil in the skillet. Then just pour the egg mixture in.
7. I happily sprinkled bacon over the eggs–much to the delight of the hungry kids. Then placed the tomato pieces over all that.
8. I let the eggs cook until the edges are set and starting to brown.  I use my spatula to lift it up and let some of the egg mixture flow underneath.
9. Once the edges were set and starting to brown, I stuck it in the oven (ain’t cast iron great!) and let it cook or about 10 minutes until it was puffed up and slightly browned.
10. Once it was out, I cut into wedges and watched as my happy trio and hubby devoured it.

Cast iron note:  For this meal, I used a BSR Century Series Number 7 skillet.  I love BSR as users because they are super smooth on the inside and hold seasoning well, but are almost indestructible.  A size 8 would have worked wonderfully as well.  If you don’t have a vintage cast iron skillet, you need one! You can find one here.