For some time now I played with the idea of making changes to my Food Monday. One idea was to have some new blood. No! I am not about to make Black Pudding. Mind you I could well make a shot at it because my paternal Grandmother made it every year when the pig she reared for family consumption was killed. Now that is a story for another time as I would not like to put you off your food today.

So beginning this week, I hope to occasionally share a recipe from a guest, and to start the ball rolling I have asked my Son-in-law George to give us a favourite.

Frittata a la George

5 large eggs
6 Strips of bacon (large roughly cut chunks)
1 (tennis ball sized) red onion (roughly chopped)
Half a red pepper (roughly chopped)
small handful of fresh fennel
4 fresh mint leaves
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Handful of Sweet corn
Large Handful of Freshly gated Parmesan cheese
6 mini mozzarella balls (or about quarter of a regular one)

First up, fry the bacon and put it to one side. Then sweat the onion, over a medium heat, until it’s starting to soften and then mix in the pepper and leave them to sweat until the onion is soft and put them to one side also.
While that’s happening take your fennel, mint and thyme and chop them finely.
Next you’ll need to cool your frying pan; a wash I find is the quickest way to do this. Next you need to crack the eggs into the pan, over a medium to high heat, add your salt & pepper to taste and throw in those finely chopped herbs and beat them with a whisk until a smooth consistency. Next add in the onion, peppers, bacon, sweet corn and about half of the parmesan, a little bit of whisk here helps to distribute things evenly. All this needs to be done quickly before the egg starts to cook, hence the need for a cold pan when you add the eggs 😉
Leave it on a medium to high heat and turn on your grill to its highest. After a few minutes most of the egg will have solidified apart from the very top, which should be a little bit runny. Break up the mozzarella roughly over the top and sprinkle the rest of the parmesan over the lot. Take your frying pan off the heat and place it under the grill until the top starts to turn a golden brown.
The tricky part is serving it, if you have been using a good non stick pan, it should just need a small amount of coaxing to loosen its grip and slide neatly onto a plate. If you’re not feeling that brave, simply take your spatula and divide it up in the pan and serve.
This recipe will serve 3 people easily without anything else (apart from maybe some country relish) or you could serve it with a side salad to four or maybe five people depending on the size of the eggs and the hunger levels. 🙂