About a year ago, my sister made the astonishing decision to become a vegetarian. I remember when she first broke the news, I immediately thought tofu + steamed vegetables = boring, and wondered how quickly she’d get over it. But ever since then, she has admirably committed to life sans meat. Though she still eats seafood and the occasional bit of chicken, she’s maintained an inspiring vegetarian lifestyle with such ingenuity that has shut me up and taught me a thing or two about vegetarian cooking (follow her on Instagram).
Cheesy frittata, stuffed with spokes of asparagus, earthy mushrooms, and sweet onion
Now I’ve gotten used the idea, I’ve started cooking vegetarian whenever my sister comes over. My repertoire is hardly as inventive as hers, but one of my favourites has got to be this delicious oven-baked frittata (eggs!) filled with some of my favourite veggies (mushrooms! asparagus!), smothered in gruyere and parmesan cheeses (yes please!!). No wonder it tastes so good… =)
Gruyere and Vegetable Frittata
Gruyere and Vegetable Frittata
With asparagus, mushroom and caramelised onion
Golden mushrooms, asparagus and caramelised onion, ready for the cheese and egg
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 50g Butter
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus, washed and trimmed of woody ends
- 150g button mushrooms
- 12 large eggs
- 200g grated Gruyere cheese
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- White pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a non-stick baking tray (about 27cm x 15cm or thereabouts) and line the base with baking paper. Lay the asparagus stalks across the bottom, spacing them fairly evenly.
- In frypan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt, reduce heat to medium low and cook until onions stirring frequently until they have softened and caramelised (should take about 10-15 minutes). If you find the onion catching on the bottom of the pan, add 2 tablespoons of water and stir vigorously. It will sizzle quite spectacularly, but effectively prevents the onions from burning. Spoon the caramelised onions evenly over the asparagus.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan. Over medium heat, add the butter and melt until it bubbles, then add the sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Stirring frequently, fry the mushroom until browned (about 10 minutes). Spoon the mushrooms over the prepared onions and asparagus.
- Sprinkle two-thirds of the Gruyere cheese over the prepared vegetables (yes, it’s a lot of cheese)
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper (to taste), until frothy. Gently pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cheese then tap the baking tray lightly, to pop any air bubbles.
- Sprinkle over the remaining gruyere and parmesan cheese, then bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until the egg has puffed up and has set, and cheese is golden.
- Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Run a dull knife around the edges to loosen the frittata from the tray. Slice into squares and transfer to a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature with some warm, crusty bread.
