Mushroom-Leek Frittata
I learned this recipe back in Blatch from a Moosewood cookbook. A Frittata is a type of Italian dish which is similar to quiche. I’ve cooked this one a few times over the years, often when I wanted to impress someone with my abilities in the kitchen. They would get to see me chop and sauté stuff which made me look better than I was because it doesn’t really take much skill to make this particular frittata. The food also smells excellent while cooking thanks to the marjoram, a spice the person/people I’d be cooking for usually weren’t familiar with. To be fair, I’ve also prepared this dish for friends and family.
In the last three years, I’ve gotten braver when it comes to straying from the recipe and trusting my instincts. So the last four or five times I’ve cooked the frittata, I’ve made minor adjustments. I prepared this most recently for a faculty potluck, and I took the time to record my notes and keep track of the recipe in its current form. I was really pleased by results. There wasn’t any left by the end of the potluck. I pretended not to know what the frittata was when I saw a couple of colleagues eating it and I asked them if they’d recommend it. They each told me it was me they liked it, and that I should try it. A little sneaky, but I find that people will often tell you they enjoy your food, even when they don’t.All that said, it’s a nice dish that’s enjoyable whether served hot or cold.
Mushroom Leek Frittata |
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 180°C. Beat eggs & milk together and set aside. Butter an 8cm² baking pan and add the croutons so the bottom of the pan is covered. Put the cream cheese in the freezer. This will make it easier to work with later. Prep the leeks, mushrooms, and garlic. Heat a large work or frying pan to med-high, and add the butter together with olive oil. Once it starts to foam, add the garlic and cook for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the leeks and sauté for another 2 minutes. Then add mushrooms, marjoram, salt and pepper, Give it a quick stir to ensure the spices are evenly mixed. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, which should take about ten minutes. Remove from heat. While the mushrooms are cooking, take the cream cheese out of the freezer and start cubing it, and placing it in the baking pan to make a second layer. After the cream cheese layer is finished add the mushroom-leek mixture to the baking pan, spreading it evenly over the cream cheese layer. Add the shredded cheese as the final layer. Add another pinch of salt and pepper to the milk and egg mixture, and pour evenly over the baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. This dish is good hot or cold, so it’ll be just as good the next day. |