Eggs-ellent

Sorry, I couldn't resist the corny title. You know me. Welcome readers to the SEVENTH cycle through Everyday Italian! Considering my field hockey jersey number is seven, this cycle is set to be one of the best yet. I've looked ahead to the recipes, and we're all (but especially me) in for a treat!

As you can probably deduce from the title, I made the last recipe from the "Everyday Antipasti" "Everyday Frittatas" section. Tonight's dish was Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, and Fontina Cheese. Mmmmmm!!!!

Brace yourselves for some major improvisation coming up. To make my frittata, I first whisked together some eggs, evaporated milk (in place of heavy cream), salt, and pepper. Easy.

I then heated some EVOO spray in a pan and sauteed some asparagus for about two minutes. I never thought to saute asparagus. In my mind it's always been something you either roast or steam. You learn something new everyday.

As that was cooking, I had to seed and dice a tomato. Confession: I don't know how to seed a tomato. Rather than looking up this somewhat vital task, I took matters into my own hands. I mean, it obviously meant to remove the seeds in some way, right? I started by trying to maneuver my knife through the seedy parts of the tomato, but found this rather tedious and frustrating. Just as I was about to throw the seeds in with my diced tomato, I realized that the seeds fall out on their own pretty much once you start dicing. Dear Giada, you may want to make this a side note. Just a suggestion.

I added the tomato to the pan and then sauteed that for about two minutes. As it cooked, I ate the tomato remains. When I was younger and didn't eat anything other than bread, butter, or pasta, I always saw my mom pop tomatoes like they were candy. Seeing as I hated anything that had any nutritional value at the time (aside from broccoli heads), I found this disgusting. Being older and wiser, I now fully understand how someone could do this. I could easily eat an entire container of cherry or grape tomatoes or just slice up a normal sized one and eat it as is. And I would not feel bad about it.

Once the tomato had been thoroughly sauteed, I poured the egg mixture over the contents of the pan. Next, I was supposed to top it with some fontina cheese. I used the same logic as the previous entry with the mascarpone cheese and decided not to buy fontina for just one recipe. Instead, I used some Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow cheese (which, of course, is also a healthier alternative). I personally think it was better than the fontina would have been.

I cover the pan then let it cook another two minutes. Now comes the tricky part. As you may know from my last frittata recipe, you are supposed to stick the entire pan under the broiler to finish cooking it. My pans certainly are not "oven-safe" and they most definitely will not fit into a toaster oven (which has a handy-dandy broil feature). Ergo, I carefully transferred the half-cooked frittata to the little baking sheet, then cooked it over the broiler. As you can see in the above picture, it was far from perfect or pretty. But it did cook all the way through and brown rather nicely!

I must say, this frittata came out much better than my last. Everything was cooked all the way through, and to be honest, I liked the ingredients in this one better than the last. It was moist and full of flavor from the tomato and the hints of cheese here and there were nice surprises.

Who said you can't cook frittata in a toaster oven? Don't challenge a college student, they WILL prove you wrong. I will be cooking once again tomorrow night with a new sauce (it's one of my personal favorites...and will have to be cooked off-campus...dun dun dun). Check back tomorrow!!

P.S. For half the original recipe with my healthier alternatives, this recipe was only 6 WW points!! Hence why I have a boatload of frittata on my plate :)