SPRING FRITTATAS

Pair asparagus, the Queen of the spring garden, with eggs for a meal suitable for any vernal table. I avoided the frittata, an Italian dish very similar to a large omelet, until I owned a frittata pan. Now that I have the pan, I realize it's totally unnecessary. Any non-stick skillet or well seasoned iron skillet will work. If you use the oven to finish the dish you don't have to do any flipping, which is the purpose of the frittata pan.

There are so many ways to use a frittata: appetizer, side dish, or full blown main course. By adding different vegetables and cheeses you can literally have hundreds of combinations. Be adventurous and try your favorites. I recommend precooking any vegetables, and draining well before adding to the egg mixture. The frittata cooking time really isn't long enough to completely cook a vegetable.

You can also add cooked meats, for example bacon, sausage, ham, chicken, salmon, to the egg mixture before cooking. The possibilities are endless, and have led to a parade of frittatas through our kitchen in recent weeks.

Spring Frittata

2 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, then cut the slices in half

2 T extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Freshly ground pepper

4 green onions, roughly chopped (save some of the greens for garnish)

6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled

16 small asparagus spears, cut to about 5 inches

10 fresh eggs

One-half cup heavy cream

2 T fresh thyme leaves, plus a little more for garnish

One-half cup blue cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 375°.

Add the olive oil to a ten inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Place potato slices over the bottom of the pan, cook for a couple of minutes and turn before adding another layer of potatoes. Keep turning until they've all had a turn on the bottom of the pan and are lightly browning and tender, about ten minutes total. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the green onions and crumbled cooked bacon. Stir to combine and cook for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile bring salted water to a boil in a small saucepan, and blanch asparagus for a couple of minutes. Remove to paper towel and drain well.Beat eggs with heavy cream, thyme, salt and pepper.

Pour egg mixture over the potatoes in the skillet and stir around to separate potatoes. Fan the asparagus on top of the egg mixture.

Put pan in oven and bake for about ten minutes. Then add blue cheese to top and continue baking for another ten minutes, or until eggs are set.

Slip frittata to serving dish, garnish with onion greens and thyme. Slice and serve.

Let's Have Brunch!

Tuscan Eggs on Toast with Pesto

Eggs Poaching in Tomato Sauce

What's for brunch on a dreary weekend?

We had eggs poached in a very basic tomato sauce, covered with fresh mozzarella and prosciutto, and served on a piece of artisan whole grain toast with pesto. Add the Sunday paper, or even your favorite Sunday morning TV (we enjoyed Joel Osteen this morning) and the day doesn't seem quite so dreary anymore.

Tuscan Eggs with Pesto Toast

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, diced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 T freshly chopped parsley

2 (15 oz.) cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes

6 eggs

6 pieces of prosciutto

6 pieces of fresh mozzarella

6 pieces of artisan whole grain bread

Pesto for toast

Freshly grated Parmesan for garnish

Add olive oil to large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent. Then add parsley, salt, sugar and tomatoes (juice and all). Stir and simmer for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Next, push away a little area in the tomato sauce and break an egg into it. Repeat with the other eggs, cover the pan and simmer until eggs are cooked to your preference. Cover egg with a piece of prosciutto and mozzarella and a little pinch of chopped parsley, and cover again until cheese melts.

Slice bread, toast, and then spread with pesto. Top with a little fresh parmesan.

To serve, place an egg and some extra sauce on each piece of toast.

Asparagus Benedict Risotto Cakes

Leftover Risotto? Probably not. You may have to make risotto with this recipe in mind. However, I always try to make a little extra thinking about the possibility of a delicious meal the next day. This is a great spring version taking advantage of the beautiful, locally grown asparagus that's available this time of year. Mushroom risotto would be equally delicious, or pea, or artichoke—be creative—I really can't think of a bad choice!

This can be served as is for a lovely breakfast, or add baby mixed greens under the risotto cake for brunch or a light dinner.

8 Asparagus Risotto Cakes (from leftover Spring Asparagus Risotto*)

Reserved Blanched Asparagus Tips for garnish

1 cup Hollandaise-like Dressing

8 Poached Eggs

Shaved Fresh Parmesan

Crispy Pancetta

Traditional risotto* made with sauteed asparagus stems, white wine, broth, and finished with butter and parmesan cheese.

Reserved Asparagus Tips

When making risotto, remove asparagus tips and blanche in broth. Drain and set aside, or refrigerate, until ready to garnish.

Pancetta

8 serving sized pieces of pancetta, diced. Saute until crispy, drain to remove excess oil.

Asparagus Risotto Cakes

Traditional risotto made with sauteed asparagus stems, white wine, broth, and finished with butter and parmesan cheese. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. Form into patties (about 1/3 cup each) and saute on both sides in butter, just until outside is browned and inside is warmed through. (When you put patties into hot butter, don't disturb them until they move on their own to get a nicely browned crust.)

Hollandaise-like Warm Dressing

4 egg yolks

1 T lemon juice

One-half cup olive oil

1 tsp. Dried Herbs de Provence

salt and pepper

In a double boiler, bring water to a gentle boil, add egg yolks and lemon juice to top pan. Whisk over hot water until yolks turn a paler yellow and become creamy(three or four minutes). Remove from heat, and whisk in oil. Add herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.

Pour into an insulated thermos-like coffee cup with lid, and close to keep warm until eggs and risotto cakes are ready (or, you can pour warm dressing into a cup and sit cup in a pan of very warm water).

Poached Eggs

Fill deep pan with one inch of water. Add 1 tablespoon white vinegar and bring to a gentle boil. Slip 4 eggs into gently boiling water. Reduce heat to simmer. Poach about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove eggs to ovenproof warmed dish greased with melted butter, and cover. Set aside while poaching remaining eggs. When all eggs are poached, add to buttered warm dish and cover until ready to serve.

Place warm risotto cake on serving plate. Top with warm poached egg. Add asparagus tips, and then dressing Finally, garnish with pancetta and shaved parmesan cheese.

*ASPARAGUS RISOTTO

2 cups Arborio rice

4 T olive oil

4 T butter

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 cup dry white wine

About 6 cups chicken broth

16 asparagus spears (tips removed for garnish)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 T butter

Sauté onion in oil and butter in large pot over medium heat.

Cut tips from asparagus and boil until ‘al dente’ in lightly salted water, about 5 minutes. Reserve tips.

Dice asparagus stems and add to onion. Cook until tender.

In separate medium sized sauce pot heat chicken broth just to a simmer.

Add rice to butter, oil, sautéed onions and asparagus stems and stir until rice is well coated with oil, about 2 minutes.

Add wine to rice and stir to combine. Let simmer until most of the wine is absorbed. Begin adding warm broth one cup at a time, stirring occasionally. Continue to add one cup of broth at a time, stirring and letting the broth be absorbed before adding the next cup of broth. Enough liquid has been added when rice has a tiny firmness in center of grain, but most of grain has softened. This takes about 18 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When rice is done, remove from heat. Stir cheese and 2 tablespoons butter into rice. Cover and let rest for maybe five minutes. Serve garnished with asparagus tips and extra shaved parmesan cheese.

(8 servings)