Nick and I love the show Good Eats, featuring our favorite Food Network star Alton Brown. The reason we like it so much is because he doesn’t just cook, but he teaches us about food science. It’s truly an educational and entertaining thirty minutes. Speaking of food science, have you seen the show Brew Masters? It’s a show all about one of my favorite brews; Dogfish Head Beer. It’s one of the most interesting shows I’ve ever watched. If I hadn’t gone into dietetics, I would have chosen food science as my major. I really think it’s fascinating, especially when the knowledge is used to create something healthy and delicious!
Ok, so anyway, after watching Alton make frittata on his squash episode, which aired earlier in the fall, Nick and I both knew we had to try it. I found it online after the show but when I went to make it of course I couldn’t find it online anywhere! I did manage to find a different frittata recipe by Alton Brown, which can be found here. The recipe below is a slightly modified version (of course!).
Alton Brown’s Squash Frittata
Ingredients
1 pound yellow squash, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
1 T EVOO
1 T chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 t salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
(** Want to make this recipe lighter? Use egg beaters! 1.5 cups of egg beaters would equal 6 large eggs**)
1/2 cup reduced fat ricotta cheese
1/2 ounce parmesan cheese
Directions
- Heat the oven to the high broil setting and place the rack 3-4 inches from the broiler.
- Gab a medium bowl and toss the squash slices with the oil, rosemary, nutmeg, and pepper. Lay the coated squash in a single layer on a baking pan, which has been lined with foil.
- Broil until the squash is golden brown on one side (~4 minutes)
- Whisk the eggs, ricotta, and parmesan together in a medium mixing bowl. Put the browned squash in an oven-safe nonstick saute pan (~ 10 inches wide). Pour the egg and cheese mixture over the squash and use a spatula to make sure some of the mixture gets under the squash.
- Cook without stirring until the egg mixture starts to harden on the sides and set on the top (~4 minutes). Put the pan under the broiler until the frittata is nice and brown on the top (**watch carefully!! I burned mine the first time!!**).
- Take out of oven and scoop onto a baking sheet to cool for several minutes.
Nick and I had his mom and sister over for dinner on this particular night. We served the frittata with some good red wine and a side spinach salad.
Alton, you never fail to impress me. My new year’s resolution (well, one of them) is to get through more of his recipes from his cookbook I received for Christmas last year. So far I think I’ve make three things. Yikes.
QUESTION: Have you ever made frittata? Have you ever tried any recipes from Alton Brown?
