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So Delicious. Must Share.


Last week I returned from a two-week vacation in Italy. Half of said vacation involved a cooking class, which was great fun. It was taught by Arthur Schwartz, a food writer from New York who loves Italy and Italian food. Arthur doesn't do fancy or complex recipes and neither do I, which is a big reason why I was attracted to the class. We made a few different kinds of frittata over the week, but my favorite was this spaghetti and broccoli rabe frittata. We made it with regular broccoli, as the broccoli rabe wasn't available; but tonight I made it with the rabe and OMG, people. You have to try this.

We were blessed with some great kitchen staff who helped out during the class (they washed a lot of dishes and did some of the prep work). One of the women helping out could flip a frittata like nobody's business. She took a big, flat metal pan lid, slid the frittata out of the pan onto the lid, then flipped the whole thing back into the pan to cook the other side. All of us amateur cooks in the class instantly worshiped her. And tonight, by golly, I successfully flipped the frittata myself. Someone should give me the Nobel prize for cooking, I am telling you. (The secret is to cook it until it is really set, which means you have to be patient.)


So, here is my recipe, adapted from Arthur's.

1 bunch broccoli rabe
3 T. olive oil, divided
1 large clove of garlic
salt, black pepper (or you could use hot red pepper flakes)
5 eggs - I used six
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
about 6 oz of spaghetti, cooked
recipe calls also for 6 oz mozzarella, which I skipped.


There is some prep work involved here, but not that much, and it is oh so worth it. First, clean the broccoli rabe and peel the thick stems. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and throw in the veg. Boil for five minutes and drain. Then, add the chopped garlic to 2 T. of the oil in a 10-inch skilet, preferably nonstick. When garlic is sizzling add the chopped, drained broccoli rabe and stir it around for a few minutes until tender. Add some salt and pepper.

While you are doing all this, boil the spaghetti till done - I broke it in half first, which worked well.

Beat five eggs in a large bowl very well, add the cheese, cooked and drained pasta and the broccoli rabe. Add another tablespoon of oil to the frying pan and then put in the mixture. You can poke it with a fork now and again to make sure any loose egg on the top filters down. If it looks like there is not enough egg to bind the mixture, beat and add another one. (The egg is not supposed to be the main ingredient, but more of a binder; it is supposed to be heavy on the pasta and veg.)Cook over low to medium heat.

Give this a good seven to ten minutes, then loosen the frittata, slide it onto a plate or a pan lid, then pray to your deity of choice, carefully flip the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side. Try not to eat the whole thing by yourself. Leftover frittata makes a great lunch or snack.

Labels: Ingestion

posted by Dr. Alice at #