On Saturday morning, I awoke in a panic. Cocooned in a plush duvet, my eyes flickered open slowly at first, and then all at once, frantically blinking away the grogginess—and eye boogers—as I jolted upright, realizing that I had forgotten to set an alarm. My tightly-packed Halloweekend itinerary washed over me, and I had no clue what time it was. My club’s brunch congregation was scheduled for 11 a.m., and I had promised to make a frittata! Was it too late!? Had I unwittingly deprived my peers of a delicious egg casserole?! I quickly de-cocooned and my phone emerged from the rubble, hopelessly dead. Outside, the grass was still dewy, and the light shining through my window felt bright, fresh. My breath began to steady, and my charging phone soon affirmed what I had begun to suspect: It was still early, just 9:30. Not sleeping through the event, however, was only half the battle. There was still a frittata to make.

I had never made frittata before, so I texted my friend’s mom, a well renown frittata expert named Sakina, to ask about the potato situation. That is, the question of whether or not to use already-cooked potatoes or raw potatoes in the dish. Sakina promptly FaceTimed me, and we went over the basics (Spoiler alert: The potatoes need to be pre-cooked). Ten minutes and several questions about the status of my academic and social life later, I was in the kitchen chopping. At around 10:30, I called Luke, my co-editor and part-time chauffeur, to ask if he would drive me and my soon-to-be-frittata down to the club congregation, and he obliged. But when he arrived at my house 20 minutes later, the frittata was still liquid, and my teeth were still unbrushed. He snickered at the mountain of dishes, but I had no time for snark. I bounded up the stairs to change and instructed him to alert me if there was a fire. Moments later, I heard a distant crash, and I winced, as a melancholy montage of a face-down frittata flashed through my mind. 

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” 

“I burned my hand!” he answered. 

Thank. God. 

Sneakers in hand, I hurried back down, grabbed the frittata, and looked at him expectantly. 

“What are you waiting for?”

Luke is a party pooper, so he wasn’t exactly amused by my antics. However, if he’d been lucky enough to actually try the frittata, which was, in fact, remarkably tasty, he’d likely have changed his tune. In retrospect, I would not recommend this dish to anyone in a time crunch. But I WOULD recommend it to anyone who loves flavor and/or has impeccable taste for fine dining. 

Ingredients

It should be noted that I used (almost!) entirely co-op ingredients to make this dish—aside from the spices. 

7 eggs

1 1/2 onions

1 clove garlic

1 leek

1 big potato, or a few little ones

A handful of mushrooms

A dash of milk

Creme Fraiche

Feta 

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Coriander 

Miscellaneous spices

Cumin

Love

Haste

Instructions

First, the potatoes:

1. If you, like me, do not have any leftover roasted potatoes, begin your frittata by chopping the potatoes per Sakina’s instructions—that is, into thin slices, about a quarter of an inch thick, maybe thinner. 
2. Pour a healthy amount (maybe 3-4 tablespoons?) of olive oil into a pan with cumin seeds, and turn the heat way up. 
3. When the oil begins to sizzle, place the potato slices in the pan in one layer (they may not all fit in one round), being careful not to fall victim to the sputtering grease. When they start browning, flip each slice over. Each side needs about 2 to 3 minutes. But I also didn’t time it so make sure to watch.
4. Once they are nice and crispy, move them to a plate, which you can set aside (or snack on, which I recommend) as you cook the rest of the slices. 

Next, the frittata: 

1. Chop up the onions, and sauté them on low heat in an *OVEN SAFE* pan, with olive oil. Now, I’m going to be honest and divulge that I nearly ran out of olive oil during the aforementioned potato-frying process, and so I actually used butter, a substitution which may, in part, account for how spectacularly delicious the final product was. For any beginner chefs out there, remember: Butter makes everything better. 
2. Add several dashes of coriander, if you have it. And a couple dashes of salt.
3. Chop your leek into discs, and cut those discs in half. Chop up some garlic. Add these, and your mushrooms, to the sauteing onions. Remember to keep this sauté on low heat, so it can really soften. Add more olive oil or butter, if need be. Cover the pan. 
4. While the veggies are simmering, crack seven eggs into a bowl. Add a dash of milk, and whisk with a fork. If you have creme fraiche, you should also whisk in a dollop, because it is fattening and delicious. 
5. Once the veggies are nice and soft and aromatic, grab the fried potato slices, which have been waiting patiently for their time to shine, and lay them over the spread, layering them as need be. 
6. Now, the fun part: Pour the egg mixture over the veggies, and keep the whole thing on a medium-low heat. As it cooks, use a spatula to keep the edges of the disc from sticking to the side of the pan. 
7. Once the frittata has begun to take shape, while the center is still a little liquidy—it takes about 5 minutes to get to this stage—turn on the broiler. Sprinkle a little feta on top of the dish, and then put the whole pan in the oven.
8. In about 2 to 3 minutes, take the frittata out of the oven. Bon appetit!

 

Sasha Linden-Cohen can be reached at srcohen@wesleyan.edu.