24th
As promised, a frittata that uses those beautiful collard greens.
It’s possible—likely—that as a college-aged vegetarian the original Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen became the first cookbook I owned. While in later life, cooking through the rest of her books, I have often wished Katzen’s recipes had a little more oomph, or subtlety, or… something, there is no denying that certain “Mollie” recipes (as they are known in our house) hit it out of the park. This is one of those. It’s from Vegetable Heaven. (And I officially feel like I’m going to hell now that I admitted any dissatisfaction with Mollie. I’m such an ungrateful, traitorous little snot.)
If you’re not a big fan of eating greens on their own, or just want something you can’t pick up with tongs or a spoon (I get sick of the scoopables, myself), this is a great way to use your collards. And it would be fantastic with a little bacon or prosciutto if you’re so inclined.
Frittata with Red Onions, Roasted Garlic, Greens, and Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
1.5 cups thinly sliced red onion (about 1 medium onion)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary (or a scant teaspoon dried)
8 large collard greens and/or Swiss chard leaves, chopped small
*1 tablespoon roasted garlic paste (see below) (don’t you hate recipes within recipes—ugh! Sorry about this one. It is 100% worth it, I swear. Do not skip the roasted garlic, or else this will not taste anywhere near as good.)
8 large eggs (from Green Gate, naturally)
Freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
How to:
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 9-inch skillet with an ovenproof handle…
…and add the onion, 0.5 tsp salt, and rosemary. Saute for about 10 minutes over medium heat. The onion will get kinda brown.
Stir in the chopped greens and the remaining 0.5 tsp salt, and saute for another minute or two, until the greens are wilted but still brightly colored. Remove from heat, stir in the Roasted Garlic Paste, and set aside.
Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat well with a whisk. Add the sauteed vegetables, some pepper, and the goat cheese, and stir with a spoon until well blended. (Sometimes at this point the cheese gets all balled up in the eggs, and I think, should I have stirred this into the vegetable mixture instead? And then I never remember the next time. It’s your call.)
Wipe the skillet clean and preheat the broiler.
Heat the remaining 2 tsp of oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Tilt the pan in all directions to be sure the entire bottom surface is coated. When the oil is very hot, pour in the vegetable/egg mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the eggs are set on the bottom.
Transfer the skillet to the preheated broiler, and broil for about 3 minutes, maybe a little more, until the frittata is firm in the center. Run a flexible rubber spatula around the edge of the frittata to loosen it from the skillet, and slide or invert onto a large plate. (You can also just serve it straight out of the pan. Depends on how fancy-like you tend to be.)
*Roasted Garlic Paste
one 3 oz. bulb of garlic (or more if you want more!)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a small baking pan with foil. Trim the tips of the garlic, then stand the bulb(s) upright on the foil. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the bulb feels soft when gently pressed. Don’t be afraid of over-roasting, it only gets better and more gooey the longer you leave it (within reason). When cool enough to handle, break the bulb into individual cloves and squeeze out the roasted garlic pulp into a small bowl. This is where you get garlic under your fingernails you can still smell the next day—you have been warned.
Mollie would like you to know that you can also do this with individual cloves—just scatter unpeeled cloves on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes before performing the cool-and-squeeze routine above.
