Mediterranean Frittata

Sometimes I open the fridge and know exactly what I want to make. Other times, I stand there looking at what I have and hope for inspiration. This recipe comes from the second scenario. How do I make dinner with leftovers from the night before when there's not enough for everyone? After about a minute, I looked up a shelf and saw the other ingredient that would become the base of our dinner, a carton of eggs. At that point I knew what we were doing for dinner. We were having a frittata.

A frittata is an Italian egg dish similar to an omelet or a quiche, and always has some form of filler or flavoring. This makes a frittata an ideal dish for using up leftovers and small bits of ingredients before they go bad. Not only that, they are very simple to make, and once you master the technique, the possibilities are endless.

In this case, I had a few extra potatoes, some leftover chicken breast, and a jar of sun dried tomatoes. These items quickly became the filling for my frittata. Topped with a little leftover goat cheese from a pizza I made a couple days ago, this frittata made a very quick dinner. If you don't have the same ingredients or don't like some of them, use what you have. Ham and cheese would be tasty. A handful of chopped herbs would be nice as well. Any way you make it, all you need to complete the meal is a salad to have a nice light dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.

Mediterranean Frittata

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 small red potatoes

6 oz cooked chicken breast, chopped

12 sun dried tomato halves, chopped (I used oil packed)

10 eggs

1/3 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 oz goat cheese

5 green onions, sliced thin (green parts only)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Quarter red potatoes. Place in medium saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook 4 minutes. Drain well. Heat olive oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and saute until browned, about 4 minutes.

Add chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Spread evenly over bottom of skillet. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into skillet. Cook 2 minutes or until bottom is set.

Transfer skillet to oven.  Bake 7-8 minutes, or until set. If desired, move to under broiler to lightly brown top.

Remove from oven. Dot top of frittata with goat cheese. Sprinkle with green onion. Cut into wedges and serve.