to do: make a frittata

The frittata.  It’s what I make when I’m trying to wipe my fridge clean of veggies, cheeses and herbs that I’ve taken my time getting to.  I was raised eating “peppers and eggs”, a classic homestyle, comfort food dish which is a rendition of an “omelette”, a”quiche” or in this case, a frittata.  The traditional peppers and eggs usually included sliced potatoes as well. A frittata is often described as “Italy’s version of an open-faced omelette”.  Not only does a frittata remind me of my childhood, but I also have hangover-like memories dating back to my college days at UMASS.  I worked at a restaurant that turned into a night time shit show on the main drag in Amherst.  I would often go there to raise hell until the wee hours, only to find myself back there at 10 AM preparing for brunch service.  The first thing I would do is order the frittata on the menu and douse it with tabasco. It was my routine and it had to be devoured and washed down with a double espresso before speaking to anyone.

Love Amherst, but let’s take it back to my kitchen. On this particular afternoon, my culprits were asparagus, bell peppers, rosemary and manchego.  Usually, 4 eggs is perfect for feeding two people, but it really depends on the level of hunger (or hangover), of course.  I first crack my eggs and whisk them with a half cup of milk to make the frittata of a light and fluffy texture…then I dice my veggies.  Here’s the thing: there are really no rules to a frittata.  The only thing you must know, is that, while cooking, YOU DONT FLIP IT.  This isn’t an omelette people.

Here is a sample recipe:

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 cup shaved manchego
• 4 stalks of asparagus
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt + pepper to taste

Whisk eggs and milk together.  Chop up your veggies and garlic.  In a sauté pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter.  Once butter is melted, throw in your garlic and asparagus *at the same time. (*you place them at the same time because you don’t want your garlic to burn, but you need your asparagus on heat for a longer time than the other veggies in order for them to soften up) Add bell pepper, a pinch of salt and a few pieces of rosemary.  Once the veggies have become softer versions of themselves, add in the whisked egg mixture.  Let it sit and cook for a few minutes and start shaving your manchego.  Tip: with a spatula, make slight grooves at the bottom of your frittata in order for the uncooked egg to seep into to cook faster and evenly.  Add your other tablespoon of butter while doing this.  Once cooked, flip over and onto a large dish.  Serve with dressed micro greens and hot sauce of your choice.  Shown below was simple mixed greens tossed with radish, cilantro, basil and olive oil.  And of course, just like UMASS, it was doused with hot sauce. My pick was Alex’s Ugly Habanero Sauce, made locally in Massachusetts.  Alex’s Ugly Sauce always has a seat at my table. And, you can get Alex’s Ugly Sauce at Olives & Grace in the South End.  What a perfect little weekend you’re going to have!  In this order: Market for ingredients, Olives & Grace for ugly sauce, obtain hangover, make a frittata.

Voila, easy peasy!  Serve it to your hungover friends for brunch, try it this weekend!

the pasta dough

Make it with love, is my first tip.  Get into it.  Don’t make it if you’re not in the mood.  Wait for the right time, with the right glass of wine and the right music on.  If you don’t do it this way, you won’t love it as much when you eat it.  Ever hear “You get what you put into it”? Yeah, well that applies here and is my numero uno kitchen rule.

Being Italian through and through, I take my pasta very seriously.  It’s my comfort food, my go-to meal…my family celebrates everything with pasta.   I’m going to have to take it a bit more seriously and get myself a pasta machine and all the proper tools, and when I do, trust me God there will be a huge brag sesh with pictures to back it up.  But, in the meantime, I’ll use my modest hands and lots of flour.

On this particular evening, I used 2 cups of unbleached flour, 3 eggs, a pinch of salt & 1/2 tsp of olive oil.  As shown in the picture above, make a well with your flour, build your walls high enough that the 3 eggs won’t come streaming through.  After you make your well, crack the 3 eggs, add the salt & olive oil.  Use a fork to whip all the ingredients together, slowly incorporating all of the flour into the mix.  Eventually it will look like this:

When you get to the point where you can’t use your fork anymore, get your hands in there and knead the dough with lots of love.  Add flour if it is too sticky.  After about 8 minutes it should look a little something like this:

At this point, wrap it up in plastic wrap and set aside for about 20 minutes.  This 20 minutes is the perfect time to make your filling.  Get creative with your filling,  for some top-notch ideas check out this slideshow. Once your filling is complete, time to unwrap your dough and roll it out.  You will need some flour to keep it from sticking.  This is the point that I realized, “what kind of cook am I, I don’t even have a rolling pin”, so I used an empty wine bottle (I always have one of those hanging around) and promptly got myself to the computer and ordered the damn thang.  Anyhow, be sure to roll out your dough nice and thin; this is where my mistake was, my ravs were a bit too thick this first time around.  Round 2, was much better.

Once you have the dough rolled out, start dolloping your filling onto the dough.  The amount and distance will vary depending on what size your ravioli stamp is.  As I mentioned before, I didn’t own a stamp at the time, I simply cut with a knife.  (I have since purchased one, this is the one I got.) Now you’ll fold the dough over pairing it up with the other side.  Be sure to press down hard to seal it and be sure there are no air bubbles in your work.  Now it’s the fun part, get out your rav stamp (OR knife, in my case) and cut out your ravioli!  You can either freeze them for later use or cook them up fresh right now.  If you are cooking them fresh, they will not take a long time to cook.  You will know they are done when they rise to the surface of your (salted) boiling water Now, was it made with love?  Then cheers, you did it.