Roasted Pepper Frittata

by Yvonne Maffei | May 3, 2011 | Breakfast & Brunch, Dinner, Egg Dishes, Italian, Recipes, Sicilian

Talk about a quick dinner- and yes, frittatas make great quick and nutritious dinners. Just take it from the rural Italians who live on such rustic, satisfying food.

I roasted my peppers ahead of time, but you can easily purchase peppers in glass jars from most grocery stores

How to Roast Peppers

Peppers of all kinds can be fire roasted in a variety of ways. You can use bell peppers or small sweet peppers. If you’re adventurous enough, you may even want to fire roast hot peppers.

To roast, clean peppers well then pat dry.  You can then either 1) place peppers directly on the flame of a gas stove; 2)  or place peppers on a comal or metal pan over an electric or gas stove; 3) in the summer or warm climates, there’s always the luxury of roasting over the hot coals of an outdoor grill.

For all three methods, simple allow one side of each pepper at a time to blacken, but not turn white (over-blackened). Rotate until the entire pepper has blackened. Then, allow the peppers to rest either out on a plate, or preferably in a paper bag. This allows them to sweat, making it easier to peel later on.

Let them rest for about 10-15 minutes, or until the blackened skin is easy to peel. I like to wear gloves so that the black stuff doesn’t get stuck underneath my short nails since it’s so hard to get off. Otherwise, just use a non-serrated, but sharp knife (paring knives work great) to scrape the black part off.

Cut the peppers as usual- dice or julienne- depending on how you choose to use them in a recipe. They’re ready to be eaten ‘raw’, but are basically very well-cooked at this point, and easier to digest since the skin has been so well softened by this process.

Roasted peppers are absolutely delicious on pasta, on pizza, in tuna salads, eggs or just alone with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a pepper salad of their own.

Here’s how I used them most recently…

Roasted Pepper Frittata

Ingredients

5 small colored peppers (mild)

4 eggs

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

cheddar or any other type of hard cheese, cut into small pieces

olive oil or butter

Directions

Use jarred roasted peppers or roast your own. Chop them roughly or dice, according to your preferance.

In a medium size bowl, break the eggs. Add the cream and whisk together. Add the parsley, salt and chopped peppers. Mix to combine.

In a heavy-bottom, oven-proof skillet, melt the butter or warm the oil. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and turn the heat to a medium-high. Add the small pieces of cheese to the top.

Cook for about three minutes to allow the eggs to set. Once you start to see the edges brown, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid. Cook for about 10-12 minutes or until the frittata has thickened all throughout and isn’t watery anymore. It should be fully cooked, just not browned on top.

Turn the oven broiler on high and place the entire (oven-proof) pan into the oven under the broiler. Keep it there for three minutes only, which should be sufficient time for it to brown nicely on top.

Remove and allow to cool before cutting and serving.

Goes nicely with a side salad and rustic bread for a light dinner.