Years ago, when Spanish friends announced that they would bring a Spanish omelet to a bring-and-share dinner. I must have looked a little uncertain about the logistics of bringing a ready-made omelet.
They explained it was like a crustless quiche, apparently originating from Italy, or maybe the Italians got the idea from the Spanish – who knows?
Frittatas are a way to use up extra eggs, which homesteaders with chickens usually have in abundance, and with a few other ingredients create a tasty and wholesome meal. The leftovers go down well as a lunch snack.
A frittata gives you almost the same taste as a quiche, but saves fussing around with making the crust, and these days people want fast-and-easy, plus, without a crust containing flour and butter, a frittata becomes more low carb and therefore more diet-friendly.
You can ring the changes with frittata – varying the ingredients, but I’d safely say you need the onions, eggs and sausage, and of course the cheese that makes it so tasty.
After all, today we are making a sausage frittata, so use any type of sausage you fancy, and substitute the vegetables to your taste, or to use up what you have in the food garden.
I’m a fan of eating what is seasonal, and right on your doorstep, locally grown and organic, is so much better for everyone.
Swap the potato for sweet potato or butternut, use celery, capsicums, sliced green beans, parsley or cilantro.
I was advised by my Spanish friends that lots of tomatoes is no good, as they get too juicy, and will ruin the consistency of the frittata. Maybe a few very thin slices on top, they conceded.
If you are cooking for children, you can go for a relatively mild sausage with a beef, pork or chicken base, but when cooking for adults there is no reason not to include some other types of sausage like German Kransky, Russians, Bratwurst, Cheddar Bratwurst, chipolata, chorizo South African boerewors, and other spicier sausages. There is a seemingly endless variety.
You can easily double the quantities to feed 6 to 8 people, as the ingredients for this recipe were worked on serving a family of 3 to 4 people.
Sausage Frittata
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 2 potatoes medium to large, or 1 large sweet potato, thinly sliced
- 4 – 6 beef sausages or any typeof sausage you like
- 1 medium onion diced fine
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 long green medium hot chili sliced fine (optional)
- 1 handful fresh parsley or fresh cilantro chopped fine
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Sauté the onion and garlic, in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil for about 5 minutes until soft.
- Remove from pan and place in a bowl.
- Add sliced sausages to the pan and stir gently until just cooked through.
- Remove sausages from pan and set aside.
- Add potatoes to the pan with some hot water and allow to steam for around 5 minutes until partially cooked, then remove from heat and drain off the water.
- In a 9×13 pan or glass ovenproof dish, that is greased with coconut oil, layer the potatoes or butternut and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Add the sausage and onion/garlic mixture and spread over the potatoes evenly.
- Sprinkle the chopped parsley or cilantro over the layers in the dish.
- In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs and milk together until well blended.
- Add 1 cup of grated cheese to the egg mixture, stir to combine, and pour over the sausage layer. The egg/milk mix will run into the crevices between the rest of the ingredients leaving the majority of the cheese at the top.
- Bake for about 40 minutes until golden and bubbly, keeping an eye on the frittata towards the end of the cooking time as you don’t want it getting too brown.
As a child I wanted to grow up and marry a farmer… simply because it was so different from my life right on the shores of the ocean. Well, I didn’t marry a farmer but a surfer instead. The urge, however, to grow stuff and make great food for a big family never left. We are on acreage with a sea view and easy access to fresh caught crayfish and other seafood – the best of both worlds. As an artist and writer I enjoy creating new recipes, tweaking traditional ones, and sharing the results not only with family and friends, but online.