Easy Vegetable Fritatta

This is a great easy go to breakfast or brunch item that can be made with ingredients you may already have in your fridge. A fritatta can be so versatile in its ingredients there is no one way to make it. I have made a few different types of frittatas for company within the past few weeks and none have been with the same ingredients. Meats, vegetables and cheese are all fair game in a frittata. When choosing ingredients I would stick with about 1- 1 1/2 cups total of meat or vegetable with about 3/4 cup of cheese. For this fritatta I had some different vegetables that needed to be used up, so they ended up in this mixed vegetable fritatta. Also what makes this a great dish to serve at a brunch is that it can be eaten at room temperature, so it is one less thing that has to take up oven space right before company comes.

To see the size the vegetable should be

Mixed Vegetable Fritatta

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup diced onion

1 garlic clove, diced

1/4 cup diced red pepper

1/4 cup diced zucchini

3/4 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 tbsp butter

12 eggs

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, divided

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 12 inch non stick, oven safe pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and zucchini and cook 6-7 minutes stirring occasionally so nothing sticks or burns. You want the onions to be translucent and the other vegetables to be soft, but not mushy. Add spinach and cook until wilted down. Remove vegetables from pan and place into a bowl.

While vegetables are cooking, crack 12 eggs into a blender, add 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Blend until slightly foamy, set aside.

Add butter to same pan used to cook vegetables over medium heat and move butter around to make sure the whole pan, including the sides are greased. Place cooked vegetables back in pan. Pour egg and cheese mixture into the pan and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the eggs. 

Using a spatula move eggs around pan until they start to set slightly and all the ingredients are spread out. Place the whole pan into the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes until the eggs are firm. Slide fritatta onto a plate and cut into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature. (also good cold the next day)

Potato Latkes and A Hanukkah Brunch

Our Hanukkah celebrations have drastically changed since becoming parents. We always had a family celebration, but it was always dinner, with the traditional latkes, brisket and noodle kugel sort of Hanukkah. But now, since the little ones have to be home for bed so early, we turned this years Hanukkah celebration into a brunch.

The menu still had to include latkes, but this year we added bagels, a spinach fritatta, and a pumpkin bread pudding. Maybe some of these other recipes will show up in the blog down the road, but for this second to last night of Hanukkah we will focus on latkes.

Potato Latkes

Ingredients

5 lbs potatoes, Idaho

2 onions

3/4 cup flour

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste (probably will need more than you think)

Canola Oil (lots)

Directions

Prepare the potatoes by peeling and chopping into approximately 2 inch cubes. Place the chopped potatoes into a bowl of water to help then from turning brown.

Using a food processor with the chopping blade in place, pulse the onions into small pieces. Place chopped onions into a large bowl. Change the blade on the food processor to the grating blade. Grate the potatoes in batches until complete. Add to onions and stir. Add the remainder of the ingredients through salt and pepper and mix together.

Pour canola oil into a large fry pan about 1 inch deep and heat until oil is hot, but not smoking. Measure 1/4 cup of potato mixture and squeeze out liquid as you form into a pancake. Gently place into oil and let cook until golden brown on one side. Then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. Remove onto paper towels to let cool. Add more oil to pan as needed. 

Transfer latkes to a wire rack and keep warm in 200 degree oven. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

Turkey Meatballs

I love this blog to be able to chronicle all my recipes, but I am not good at this whole taking pictures of my food. I just don't understand how when people are in the middle of cooking, with hands all oniony and covered in raw meat they manage to pick up the phone or camera and take step by step pictures of what they are doing. Maybe it is just because I am always pressed for time when cooking, mostly during nap time or the one episode of whatever TV show my son is watching, but I can barely manage to take one picture of the finished product. 

With that being said, here is my best attempt at what I was able to capture....all with my phone. The nice camera was coming no where near my turkey covered hands.

Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

3/4 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small (8oz) can tomato paste

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (15oz) can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Meatballs Ingredients

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 onion, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/4 lb ground turkey thigh

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large (better for it to be wide, not deep) pot. Add onion and garlic, stirring to make sure they don't burn, but turn translucent in color, about 5-7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to melt the paste slightly. Add the remainder of the ingredients. Bring sauce to a boil and lower to a simmer and cover while you prepare the meatballs.

Mix together all meatball ingredients and form into golf ball size meatballs. Drop the raw meatball into the sauce. Simmer, covered for at least 1 hour, but longer helps develop more flavor (I usually cook them about 2-3 hours)

Serve with or without spaghetti. These also freeze great.

Cauliflower and Carrot Puree

I took inspiration from Ina Garten's new cookbook, Make it Ahead for this recipe. I thought this turned out amazing and have been eating it for days since no one else in my family seemed adventurous enough to try this very simple recipe. This would make a delicious and healthy side dish for any holiday meal.

Cauliflower and Carrot Puree

Ingredients

1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets

4 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1 inch chunks

4 Tbsp butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe

Bring a large pot of water with cauliflower florets to boil and cook for 15-20 minutes until very soft. Drain and repeat with carrots. Place carrots and cauliflower into a food processor and puree until smooth. Melt butter in saucepan until golden in color. Add butter to carrots and cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Stir until combined. Serve warm. Also can be reheated over medium low heat in a a saucepan.

Pinch & Dash does CAKES!!!

I'm just so proud of the Mickey Mouse cake I made for my nephew's 2nd birthday, I had to share a picture. Sorry no recipe. The cake is just a box cake mix, it is the decoration that really made this cake special. He even asked his mom if he could have MiMi (that's what he calls Mickey) cake for dinner.