ASPARAGUS FRITTATA
13 apr 2006

passover for a vegetarian is rough. (passover for a vegan is pretty impossible.) not only is bread forbidden, but so is anything with flour, flat or not (ie, crackers, tortillas), & ditto anything remotely starchy, with the exception of potatoes. this means no grains (ie, cereal), no pasta (ie, pierogies, tortellini, ravioli -- my three main staples lately!), no couscous -- & you know what else? for the lucky ashkenazi (jews of eastern european descent), no legumes (ie, peanuts, peanut butter), no beans (ie, refried beans, soybeans, IE, TOFU), no rice (ie, NO DELICIOUS ASIAN CUISINES), no peas (ie, chickpeas, HUMMUS), no lentils, & no corn.

NOW do you feel my pain? my rage? my darkest darkest days?

so i'd been planning to give this frittata recipe a shot during passover, & then The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook started sucking it up real bad & i made very real threats about shelving it for good, so it was with great trepidation that i cracked it open this evening when i got home from work.

so let's take a look at this recipe, shall we?

INGREDIENTS
1/3 pound trimmed asparagus or leftover cooked asparagus
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint, or 1 teaspoon crumbled dried mint
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

METHOD
place a rack in the upper third of the oven. heat the oven to 350F.

fill a large saucepan with enough water to cover the asparagus & bring to a boil over high heat. at the same time fill a large bowl with cold water & ice cubes, & line a colander with paper towels. plunge the asparagus into the boiling water. the moment they turn bright green, about 30 to 40 seconds, remove them with a slotted spoon & place them in the ice water for 15 seconds, to stop the cooking, then transfer to the colander to drain.

meanwhile, heat the oil or melt the butter in a 12-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. swirl the pan to distribute the oil evenly over the bottom & sides. sauté the shallot, mint, & parsley until the shallot is soft, about 7 minutes. add the asparagus & sauté just to coat with the shallot & herbs. spread the asparagus in a single layer in the skillet.

break the eggs into a bowl, & beat them lightly with a fork or whisk. lightly beat in the cheese. pour the eggs into the skillet, over the asparagus, & stir lightly with a fork until the eggs start to set, about 2 minutes. once the bottom is firm & set to about 1/3 inch, use a thin, nonmetallic spatula to lift the frittata's edge closest to you. tilt the pan slightly toward you so that the uncooked egg runs underneath. lower the edge & swirl the pan gently to distribute the egg evenly.

continue cooking for about 40 seconds, then lift the edge again, repeating the procedure above until the egg on top -- while still not set -- is no longer runny, about 4 minutes.

place the skillet in the oven until the top of the frittata is set & dry to the touch, 2 to 4 minutes. check each minute after two, b/c the frittata will turn tough if cooked too long.

run a spatula around the edges to loosen the frittata, & invert it onto a serving plate. season to taste with salt & pepper. serve at once, let cool to room temperature, or refrigerate & serve chilled.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i halved the mint, b/c i am suspicious of using mint in a cooking scenario that doesn't involve chocolate. even though this is Mint The Herb & i get that, it SMELLS like toothpaste & i remain skeptical.

other than that, i tried to do EXACTLY what ms shaw wrote since my luck with other recipes from her book has been less than stellar & i thought, for a fleeting moment, that it might be due, IN PART, to my adjustments.

i DID prepare the eggs before i even started cooking anything, b/c as nice as it would be to multitask, i just know that the potential for danger is too high -- & i was right. if i'd waited till after the shallots & herbs were sautéeing to start with the eggs & the cheese, i'd've been screwed -- b/c dried herbs sauté a lot faster than fresh ones, & the parsley & mint got a little, uh, brown.

i also wasn't sure how to prepare the asparagus -- i mean, was it supposed to be chopped after it was blanched? b/c i left it whole (after snapping off the woody end at the bottom, which i thought i'd mention in case you didn't know to do that) & although it cooked up just fine in the frittata, it would've been probably a little bit easier to eat if it were in pieces.

actually making the frittata in the skillet was a little challenging b/c of my insanely slanty burners -- nothing cooks evenly b/c my cooktop is defective & annoying, & when i'm boiling water for pasta i can work around it, but when i'm trying to sauté things or fry things, it's important for me to keep a really good eye on everything to make sure i turn the pan & get everything to cook the same (& stay the same thickness).

i ended up NOT burning myself on the skillet, even though i reached for the handle BAREHANDED on two separate occasions -- after it'd been in the oven -- only to recoil just in time. & when i flipped the finished frittata onto the "serving plate" (aka "just another dinner plate"), i only lost a tiny piece of it to gravity. you can see the crispy-looking (& ill-distributed) herbs in the photo below.

i WILL say that shaw lucked out, b/c i've been threatening all week to retire this cookbook if the frittata recipe sucked, b/c shitty dumples + bland curry = skating on thin ice, & i just won't stand for it. this recipe was pretty delicious, if somewhat pointlessly involved (why not just scramble all the sautéed vegetables in with the eggs instead of meticulously making an eggy flapjack?), but shaw's earned herself a reprieve. FOR NOW.

"Asparagus Frittata" from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Diana Shaw, © 1997.