Squash Blossom Frittata
I love frittata because I find that there is a bit of nostalgia in this lovely, Italian dish. I remember Auburn tailgates and family brunches that always included a frittata of some sort. Although I could seldom partake (they usually included sausage), I always loved how neat and beautiful they looked in their pan. Frittata is an Italian word that means “having been fried”. Oddly enough, we don’t really fry this dish– it’s baked!
The frittata is such an incredibly elegant dish to have for breakfast, and it is SO easy. This particular frittata variation is inspired from one of my new, favorite Southern cookbooks: Root to Leaf by Steven Satterfield. I really recommend this book for anyone interested in delicious Southern cooking with a twist.
The cookbook follows the seasons, so each recipe features a local and seasonal ingredient. Squash blossoms are intriguing, though, because they can be summer or fall ingredients as you eat with the seasons. Right now, the squash blossoms we eat from the farmer’s market (even in California) are from mostly summer squash (zucchini) plants. In a few month’s time, we will see pumpkin squash blossoms as the seasons transition!
Being able to pick these ingredients up at the farmer’s market and then make the dish the same day is especially useful when dealing with something like squash blossoms. They go bad very easily, so you truly need to make the frittata within a day or two of buying them.
Squash Blossom Frittata
Ingredients
- 8 eggs
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 red onion 1/3 cup chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup mozzarella or ricotta cheese
- 2 green onions
- 8 squash blossoms cleaned and washed
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Prepare egg mixture.
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Whisk together the eggs and cream in a medium sized bowl
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Chop the red onion and add it to the egg mixture.
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Whisk in the salt and pepper.
Warm over stovetop.
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In a large, heavy and *oven-safe* skillet, melt the butter over low heat.
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Add the egg mixture and stir continually over low heat for roughly 7 minutes, or until the mixture is warm *but NOT cooked*.
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Remove from heat and add in sliced cheese, and sliced green onion.
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Remove the stems from the squash blossoms and arrange them in the pan, lightly coating them in the egg.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until just set.
