speedy spring tomato, corn and basil frittata

On Monday nights I have the combination of meat-free Monday and after school football (soccer) to shape my dinner plans. I’m usually trying my best to delay a trip to the supermarket so dinner is often a mad rush to make something from what is in the fridge and freezer. This speedy spring frittata ticks all the boxes. It takes about 15 minutes to make and is packed full of flavours. You can play around with the fillings to suit what you have and what you like.

In case you are wondering, a frittata is an Italian omelette, known as a tortilla in Spain (not to be confused with a Mexican bread tortilla). When I was growing up my dad was the king of what he called a Spanish omelette. He’d make it to give my mum a night off and I have fond memories of eating it with baked beans in front of The Muppet Show on Sunday nights, drying my hair in front of the fire. This is an updated version of his original.

This recipe is a great brunch or breakfast dish. We often have it with bread and salad for lunch or dinner. My kids love cold wedges of it in their lunchboxes and it is a great portable picnic food too.

When we have people over, I like to serve it on a big board, cut into wedges and give people the option of wrapping their wedge in a silky slice of prosciutto or smoked salmon. Or I serve little chunks of it on a slice of buttered bread as a bite size appetizer. You can add a bowl of aïoli or romesco for people to smear onto their bread or frittata/tortilla.

Speedy spring frittata ingredients (serves 4 people)

Just cut the ingredients in half and use a 9 inch (20cm) frying pan to make this for 2 people.

• 2 tablespoons butter (more tastes better and helps the frittata slide out of the pan)
• 175g (1 cup or 6 oz) organic sweetcorn (frozen is best as it is picked and frozen at its sweetest)
• around 250g (1 and a half cups) whole cherry tomatoes
• 8 large free range eggs
• 60g (2oz) of basil finely chopped, stalks and all
• Zest of a lemon
• 85g (3oz) soft mild goat cheese or feta
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• A big pinch chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Optional – a handful of leftover cooked new potatoes, cut into grape size chunks

To serve

Prosciutto, smoked salmon, buttered wholegrain bread, baguette slices, romesco sauce, aïoli, dressed arugula leaves.

To make your frittata:

1. Put a deep, metal handled (around 30cm or 11 inch across), non stick frying pan on a medium high heat and melt the butter before adding the tomatoes and corn. Cook for around 5 minutes until the tomatoes soften slightly and the corn gets a little golden. If the corn is still frozen, just cook it for a couple of extra minutes. If you have leftover cooked new potatoes, now is a good time to add them.
2. While the corn and tomatoes cook, take a large bowl or jug and whisk together the eggs then stir through the chunks of goats cheese, chopped basil, lemon zest, salt, chilli flakes and black pepper.
3. Add the egg mixture to the corn and tomatoes and cook on a medium heat, gently scraping the sides and bottom of the pan with a silicone spatula to allow the uncooked eggs to flow underneath, about 4-5 minutes. Then stop stirring and continue to cook on a medium heat for about 3 minutes (this will depend on the size of your pan, cooking heat and temperature of your ingredients) until the frittata is around ¾ set with only a thin layer of liquid egg on the top.
4. Heat your grill (broiler) and finish the frittata under that until the top is set – around 2 minutes.
5. Run a spatula around the sides of the pan and loosen the frittata. Then put a cutting board on top of the pan, hold the bottom of the pan with a towel and quickly and confidently flip so that the board is under the pan and the frittata falls onto the board.
6. Cut into pie-shaped slices and serve warm or at room temperature, never fridge cold. Leftovers should be allowed to cool and can then be wrapped in foil and kept in the fridge for 3 days.

Equipment

You can now buy the equipment I use in this recipe through my shop. I’ve spent years testing my favourite bits of equipment so rest-assured that whatever I recommend is the best tool for the job and will give you great results without cluttering your kitchen with unused tools. I receive a small affiliate fee from Amazon if you buy via my link. The products don’t cost you any more. These small fees help me keep creating all the free content I share.

Get more recipes like this

Find more recipes for eggs, sweetcorn, packed lunches and mid week meals here.