Asparagus Frittata

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful Mom, Ann, and my always glamorous Grandma, Betty!!  All our plans for going out for brunch fell through, so we ended up having brunch at my parents house, but I am so glad we did!  It was honestly one of the best Mother's Day I have witnessed - I got four new recipes for my blog, it was a casual morning sitting around and chatting, the food was pipping hot and we never felt rushed to eat!  And right at the center of the dining room table were flowers my dad and I bought my mom - sunflowers, her favorite.

First up in the list of Mother's Day foods is an asparagus frittata.  I should let you know I despise quiche, but I love this frittata!  I have never made a frittata before, nor had I eaten one, but I had seen them in restaurants in Europe and all over TasteSpotting.  And what's even cooler is that they really aren't that hard to make but so amazing!  The texture is dense while having a nice bite to it and the crunchy cheese crust on top makes it even more delectable!  For your next lazy Sunday or breakfast in bed, I recommend you whip up one of these, it's sure to impress!

Asparagus Frittata

Adapted from The Traveling Table 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, peeled and blanched for 2 minutes,
• cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 eggs, slightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of hot sauce to taste
• 4 ounces fresh Dubliner cheese, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon chopped Chinese chives (harvested them fresh from my Mom's new chive plant!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the broiler. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick 10-inch skillet. 
2. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onion is starting to brown. 
3. In a medium bowl break the eggs and whisk. Season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce and pour into the pan. 
4. Scatter the asparagus into the pan. Lift the edges to allow the liquid egg to run into the bottom. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the eggs are setting and the bottom is starting to brown. 
5. Drop the cheese over the top in small mounds and place under the broiler until the top is set and crusty brown. Sprinkle the chives over the top (at this point, because I was still making hash browns, the frittata was warming in an oven set at 170 degrees). 
6. Let cool for a couple minutes, slide out of the pan, and cut into 6-8 wedges.

Gnocchi with Spinach Basil Pesto, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, and Asparagus

I think my cell phone on the side really completes the dish

The first time I had gnocchi was in Rome last summer.  It was the lightest and most heavenly thing I had ever eaten.  Every bite tasted like a cloud, I was hooked and immediately jumped to the Internet to find out how to make it.  Everything I read made gnocchi seem like the hardest thing in the world to make.  Sadly, it was put on my cooking back burner... until now.


Last Wednesday Jake came over for dinner and I knew I wanted to make something new, good and impressive.  Gnocchi was the first thing that came to mind.  I feverishly started researching how to make it; different techniques, recommend sauces and how many attempts it took people to get it right.  Apparently you need a ricer, an Italian grandmother and years of experience to get it right.  And even then you might not get it right on the first try.  I can honestly say I was afraid that I would mess it up and serve Jake dense potato balls.


But once again Deb at Smitten Kitchen saved the day.  Apparently you don't NEED a ricer, you can easily use a the large grater side of your box grater, you just have to make sure the potatoes gratings don't clump together.  And even though I'm Irish and have an infinite love for potatoes, you don't need an Italian grandmother to get it right (meaning my grandmothers do just fine!).  Yes, that's right, I SUCCESSFULLY made gnocchi on my first try!  I was (and partially still am) on a culinary high.  And I'm pretty sure Jake liked it too (but you'll have to ask him to make sure).  I also gave some to my roommate, Zenka, and she didn't seem to complain one bit... In fact, I think she gobbled it down.


If you have any questions about making them, I did enough research and bookmarked enough sites that I  can share tips or answer questions.  But I really recommend you try to make this because it is incredibly rewarding when you do!


PS - I adapted this recipe from SO many sites, but I used Smitten Kitchen's technique tips the most.


Ingredients:

• 4 good sized Russet potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. After cleaning the potatoes, cut a ⅛ inch deep all around the potato (it will make peeling them a lot easier later).  
2. Place in boiling water for about 30 minutes, or until a paring knife can easily be inserted into the fattest past of the potato.
3. When potatoes are done, remove and peel right away, the skins should slip right off with minimal assistance of a knife (and unless you have super hands, you'll want to use a kitchen towel or hot mitt to hold to potatoes).
4. Then grate the potatoes on the largest holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten egg and the salt to the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the flour to the potatoes a little at a time, using only as much as you need so that the dough will not stick to your hands. When the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips.  At this point my dough was still kind of sticky - you really want to avoid using too much flour (it will end up being very dense), err on the side of caution.
6. Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits onto a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough. Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Knead for about three or four minutes.
7. Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the six pieces using your fingertips into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.
8. Sadly, I am not yet talented enough to add the traditional gnocchi ridges with a fork, but if you can: create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork. With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured or parchment-lined dish. If you’d like to freeze them for later use, do so on this tray and once they are frozen, drop them into a freezer bag. This ensures that you won’t have one enormous gnocchi mass when you are ready to cook them.
9. To cook the gnocchi, place them into a pot of boiling and well-salted water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove,  and set aside.  If you are using a sauce, add to a saute pan with the (heated) sauce and cook for another minute or two.

Spinach-Basil Pesto

1. In a food processor combine a hand-full of basil leaves, about a cup of fresh spinach, ¼ cup of pine nuts, ½ cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, ¼ cup grated asiago cheese, 3 cloves of minced garlic, some freshly ground black pepper, and a few pinches of kosher salt.  All of these ingredients can be more or less to taste.
2. After this has been pureed, continue running the food processor and drizzle in olive oil until the pesto has reached your desired consistency.
3. This can then be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for a few days, but for the gnocchi you will want to heat it in a sauté pan, adding the gnocchi for the last one or two minutes.

Slow (Oven) Roasted Tomatoes

1. Preheat over to 250 degrees.
2. Cut Roma tomatoes in half and place in a small casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and top with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Cook in oven for about two hours or until nice and soft.

My Recipe for Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus and Parmesan Risotto - An Italian Experimentation

I had never made Risotto before, in fact my first time every having risotto was at this little restaurant off the beaten path in Florence, Italy (i.e. just a few weeks ago)! And honestly, I don't know why I had never eaten it before, it was wonderful! While I may have had a culinary epiphany, I still know why I was continually deterred from actually making risotto. Almost every thing I read online or watch on the Food Network continually reiterates how difficult and time consuming risotto is to make! I had a mental picture of me making risotto; standing over a stove for two hours continually stirring a pot waiting for something to happen. Luckily, this mental image was never fulfilled. While risotto is a relatively time consuming meal to make (as when it is cooking, you must be paying full attention to the pot), it wasn't too difficult (I would say anyone who is an intermediate cook would be able to successfully make the dish). The one ingredient to make a successful risotto dish: patience.

Ingredients:

• 29 oz of vegetable stock
• 3/4 lb. fresh asparagus, washed, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer. Add asparagus and simmer over moderate heat until just cooked, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes, depending upon stalk thickness. Using a slotted spoon, transfer asparagus to a plate. Cover the stock and keep it at barely a simmer.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Add rice and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until it is coated with oil, about 1 minute.
3. Add the wine, stir and simmer until almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add 1 scant cup of hot stock to the rice, cook and stir often, until it is completely absorbed. Continue to add the stock 1 cup at a time, stirring gently until absorbed.
4. The risotto is done when the rice is creamy and tender but still slightly firm, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the asparagus and Parmesan cheese. Season with pepper to taste and serve.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus.

Once again... no pictures. There was no time - hungry people wanted to eat! But here is a very very simple recipe for oven-roasted asparagus. The days of boiling asparagus are over! NO MORE!

Ingredients:

• Asparagus
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• Olive Oil

(I told you, so easy! Only FOUR ingredients!)

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the top level of the oven and then preheat to 450 degrees.
2. Wash and dry the asparagus, cut off the ends, then peel (with a vegetable peeler) the lower portion of the asparagus.
3. Arrange on a large cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and drizzle with olive oil, followed by a nice sprinkling of fresh ground pepper and kosher salt.
4. With a spatula (or your hands), roll the asparagus around on the pan so it gets coated with the olive oil and spices. Make sure that before the asparagus is placed in the oven, it is evenly arranged on the baking sheet.
5. Cook in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until the asparagus has started to wilt/look 'roasted'
6. If you want, you can grate some parmesan over the hot asparagus. Otherwise, plate and enjoy!