Vegetable Frittata with Garlic Scape Pesto

It is week 1 of the CSA, and I was so excited to pick up my first crate of farm fresh vegetables! The lettuce was luscious, the basil was aromatic and the radishes were crisp. Part of excitement, but also the challenge, of the CSA is feeling the pressure to use all of (or as much of) the vegetables as you can each week. I have plenty of people tell me they don’t sign up because they don’t think they can use so much each week and they don’t want it to go to waste. Well I am making it my mission to show you how to use as many of the vegetables each week as we can, in creative and delicious ways.

After a day of rain, the skies cleared up and allowed for a nice, cool summer evening. The hubbies weren’t home that night, so a few of us moms got together and decided to let the kids play for the afternoon and have an outdppr pizza party. In the adorable words of my friend’s 5 year old, “oh, looks like we are having dinner al fresco!” So we went ahead and ordered pizza for the kids, a salad for the moms, and I set out to use as much of my first batch of CSA vegetables as I could in a light and delicious frittata to go with our salad.

This frittata comes together so easily, you’ll realize you can have a healthy meal on the table in no time. Start by dicing up your vegetables. Here is where you can be creative. Use what you love. In the CSA this week we got yellow squash and broccoli, and I had an orange pepper in the fridge, so the three came together to form a fun and colorful frittata filling.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof saute pan, and cook the veggies until they are tender and begin to brown on the edges; about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the egg mixture. Start by cracking a dozen eggs into a bowl. NOTE: If you are looking closely at the picture, you will notice there are only 8 yolks. I don’t happen to like whole eggs too much, so I omitted the last 4 egg yolks to give it a lighter flavor. By all means add as many or as few as you like. If you do decide to omit the egg yolks completely, add in another 2 egg whites to replace the volume of the yolks.

TIP: If you are cracking the eggs and wind up with a piece of egg shell in your mixture (let’s admit it happens to all of us), don’t fret. The tip to fishing out that stray egg shell – more egg shell! Grab a piece of shell that you have already cracked, use it like a spoon, and scoop out the piece of shell. It works every time!

Next, add the milk, salt and pepper to the eggs and whisk until all the yolks are broken up and the mixture is fully combined.

Once the veggies begin to brown, spread them into a single layer in the pan. Lower the heat to medium and pour in the egg mixture.

Let the mixture cook for 2-3 minutes so that it begins to set. Once you see the edges begin to set, you can move the pan into the preheated oven. cook for 20 minutes until fully cooked through.

After 20 minutes, sprinkle the frittata with 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere cheese (or any type of cheese that you prefer.) Then cook for another 2 minutes so the cheese melts. Then remove from the oven and slide onto a serving plate.

One of the best parts of the CSA this week was the basil. How beautiful is that bunch of basil? And trust me, it smells as good as it looks! Another exciting addition in the share this week were garlic scapes. Garlic scapes are the flower bud of the garlic bulb. They have a more mild garlicky flavor and perfect for making pesto. It’s my first pesto of the season, and I look forward to it every year.

Making any type of pesto really is such an easy process that you will never want to buy it again. The flavor is so much fresher using basil from the CSA or your garden – once you go fresh you will never go back. Trust me. To make the garlic scape pesto, start by pulsing the scapes in a food processor until chopped finely. Then add in the pine nuts – you will notice I do not have a picture of this step. I skipped the nuts in this version as I was making the pesto for a family with nut allergies, so I omitted it. The nuts do add a nice flavor, but it is still delicious without them. Once combined, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until a smooth mixture comes together. Then add in the basil, parmesan and lemon juice. Process together until you get the desired texture. Here is the next tip – always taste for seasoning before you serve. I tasted this and felt that it needed a little extra salt, pepper and lemon juice. Each batch will be different based on the basil, the cheese, the nuts, etc. So always taste and use your palette to decide what needs to be added.

I served the frittata with the sauce on the side and allowed everyone to drizzle it on themselves. Some people (crazy people if you ask me) don’t like pesto, so I didn’t want to force it upon them. Also, my son ate the frittata and I know he would not have tried it if it had green sauce on it. So this way worked for everyone. It was a delicious “al fresco” dinner, and we all felt satisfied and healthy at the end.