frittata with asparagus, cremini, and scallions

breakfast is served

In a few days our household is going to grow by one more. No, there’s no bun in the oven, so to speak – we’re not having a baby. If you start seeing recipes combining peanut butter, pickles and ice cream, you should start to get suspicious, but you can rest easy for now. Our household is temporarily expanding because Andrew’s younger brother, Russ, is coming to live with us while he is studying at the Cooper Union for the summer. One bedroom, an air mattress, and three people. Sounds like a script for a prime time sitcom.

Someone asked me the other day if I was dreading it – adding another person to a small New York one bedroom. I know that many people would be. I know that given my anxiety over clutter and disorder – I should be. But I’m not. I love a full house. I love the extra commotion and the noise that comes with it. While it’s nice to be just the two of us, but with another person it’ll feel like an actual family.

frittata mise

A couple of weeks ago, Russ and Andrew’s mom stayed with us for a few days – and it was great. We even managed to squeeze in a morning of wedding dress shopping. We wound up getting the dress the following day in Boston (read: dress! found!! hooray! and!! it has pockets!!!) – so that’s out of the way. Finding a wedding dress was the easy part. Now we have to plan the rest of the event.

In the last month of ruminating on locations, guests, dresses, caterers, photographers, cakes, favors, libations, and what-have-you, I’ve more than once contemplated eloping. Except that it would make our parents very sad. And plus, we want our family and friends to be there on the big day when we say “I do,” and eat lots of cake. Or pie.

asparagus from the farmers' market

I’ve been thinking about wedding pies a lot lately because (and I know many of your will disagree) I kind of prefer pie to cake. But since cake is sort of obligatory, we’ll have that as well. The bottom line is – we’ll hopefully eat some of both. We’ll toast one another, our families, our friends. And we’ll dance the night away, carefree and a little buzzed. And hopefully everyone will be grinning from ear to ear – including us. I expect my face to hurt from smiling so much. That is what I think a wedding should be – smile until your face hurts.

I think about the wedding itself quite a bit. Not in the sense of logistics, nothing like that. I think of it as just a party with pretty whitedress. And families coming together. Four generations big and small, all uniting together. I think about my favorite childhood moment – all involving great gatherings of people – and I think, well, this is just great! Our favorite people all in the same room together! How much better can life get?

mushrooms, scallions, asparagus

Today, I was going to spend an hour researching venues and maybe calling a few. That turned into a multi-hour affair. Oof, I can already tell this is going to take way longer than any party I’ve planned before, that’s for sure. Yesterday, I called up a farm in the North Shore area of Massachusetts and asked them about Saturday weddings – turns out they’re booked until 2013 (!!!). 2013, people – we’re not even halfway done with 2011!

And so in trying to create a workable spreadsheet of wedding things (of course, it’s a spreadsheet, knowing me!) I kind of lost track of time, and well, wasn’t really sure what to tell you about this frittata here.

I’ve made it a few times – once for lunch for me and Andrew – it was a hit! Once for Andrew’s mom and brother for breakfast when they stayed with us – again, a hit! And once for myself, when I was feeling particularly famished, and ate the whole thing (4 eggs!!) – obviously a hit, since I (duh!) ate the whole thing.

Asparagus Dill Frittata

There’s really nothing to it – you’ve had frittatas before, but what makes this one different is how it’s cooked – on low heat, letting the eggs gently transform from a liquid into a delicate custard.

The first time I ate it, I just knew, this is what a frittata should taste like – not what I’ve had before. It’s what an egg always wanted to be – cooked just like this, to become something ethereal and luxurious. You’ll know what I mean when you make it – you might never make your frittata differently.

Print

Asparagus Dill Frittata

Ingredients:
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced
5 thin stalks asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 cremini mushrooms, sliced (about 1 cup)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons chopped dill
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
6 few turns on the pepper mill, plus more for sprinkling
3 cups baby arugula, optional, for serving

Preparation:

1. Position the rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil an 8-inch skillet over medium high heat, until shimmering. Add the scallions, the asparagus, and the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 2 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons dill, salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables in the skillet and place the skillet in the oven.

4. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, until the eggs are just set, but are slightly jiggly in the center. Remove the skillet from the oven and set to cool for 5 minutes.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mint, remaining olive oil, and the remaining dill. Serve slices of the frittata over a bed of arugula, drizzled with the olive oil-lemon-dill dressing. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt and add a pinch of pepper if you like.

24 Comments

  • Tessa

    Love all the green in this frittata. Have fun with your future brother-in-law! I would definitely be feeling anxiety. Also, I can’t wait to see your wedding dress. You’re going to be a stunning bride.

  • Whitney

    I’m happy to say that the “smiling until your face hurts” sentiment is exactly how I remember my (exactly!) a month ago wedding.

    I’m sure you will plan a great party for your family.

  • Radish

    Tessa – thank you!! i can send you a pic via email :)

    Whitney – thank you and happy monthaversary!!

  • Renee

    Another delicious looking recipe!
    And I, for one, wholeheartedly support pies at weddings. For ours, we had individual fruit tarts with fresh summer berries. :) Congrats on finding a dress — soooo exciting!

  • Molly

    A dress with pockets? Fantastic!

    Do you have to get married on a Saturday? I’m Jewish and my husband is Catholic, and the rabbi we used (Reconstructionist) would not have married us on a Saturday. Changing the day could be key. If you are thinking North Shore, my sister and her wife got married at The Essex Room at Woodman’s of Essex. (Sunday) And we are going to a wedding in Topsfield in October. I promise everything has a way of falling into place, and just think about how much fun building the registry is going to be!

  • Radish

    Molly – thank you for such lovely, uplifting words! We are hoping a Saturday evening (with a very liberal rabbi!) Sunday would be SUCH a drag!! And we will look at the Essex Room – i haven’t even heard of it yet. Thank you for the recommendations. By chance is the Topsfield wedding at the Willow estate and is it October 1?

  • sarah

    This looks amazing! I’ve been trying to make more of my weekday meals quick & easy, plus I’ve been cutting back on the amount of meat we eat… so this is perfect! Thanks for sharing :)

  • Megan

    I have a number of things to say to you!
    a.) I too am getting married next year–and I too am just figuring out how difficult it can be to find the perfect venue. I think I’ll spend a few minutes on it. Turns into many moons.
    b.) I have yet to find a dress. I assume that step will be much easier.
    c.) I too have run into the Saturday night problem. Tons of places are already booked!
    d.) I love asparagus. And mushrooms. And dill. I need this dinner in my life.

  • Winnie

    No anxiety about your houseguest, a wedding dress with pockets, plans to serve wedding pie, and this yummy looking frittata are four more reasons why I just adore you ;)

  • @mpv61

    I got married at The Robert Treat Paine Estate in Waltham MA. It’s a beautiful place; its website http://www.stonehurstwaltham.org/ doesn’t do it justice in the slightest. Our wedding was 17 years ago now (!!!) but here are a few recent reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/robert-treat-paine-estate-waltham

    There are so many wonderful places for weddings in the Greater Boston area, though! I think you’ll find a wonderful place that’s available when you want it.

  • Lindsey

    I love pies for weddings; definitely better than cake. I attended a wedding last summer and the bride had baked about a dozen or so pies and arranged them on a tiered stand with a cute little topper on the top pie. They all had tags that said things like ‘Today, life is just peaches’ to correspond to the pie flavors. Though, I would never recommend cooking for your own wedding. There’s just so much to do!

  • Sara

    Bake at 250 degrees? I’ll definitely have to give this a try. I know what you mean about the styrofoam issue. I have a feeling this could be an epiphany along the lines of realizing I could finish off tortilla espanola in the oven, rather than trying to flip a 12″ diameter, hot, raw-on-top, mass of eggs and potatoes onto a plate and then back into the pan again.

    I’m laughing at you using dill again. You know, though, it’s starting to grow on me. You can take credit if you so desire.

  • noelle {simmer down!}

    I wish finding my dress had been so painless. I looked several places before finally deciding to design it myself (we’ll see how that turns out!). Good call on the pockets, I think I’ll have my seamstress add some.

    Google makes a wedding spreadsheet template that I’ve been using- it’s pretty good as is but you can customize it if you wanted to:
    https://docs.google.com/previewtemplate?id=0As3tAuweYU9QcHlVM3hrY2tocEkyd1B2Ym04S3F2SHc&mode=public

    Have fun with the planning and with the temporary addition to your household!

  • Juanita

    Frittatas are such a brilliant concept…so much less fussy than getting an omelette perfect only to throw the same flavours in the middle rather than in. Simplicity is always better.

    Good luck with the full house (like the sitcom) :-)

  • Molly

    Hi Olga,
    The Topsfield wedding is on Oct. 24 and is taking place at the Willowdale. (The Willow Estate you were referring to?) Have you looked at Endicott College and the Danversport Yacht Club? I have a sneaking suspicion you are going to be hard-pressed to find an open Saturday night this fall, but as someone who’s been to more Sunday weddings than anything else, I promise you it’s not a total drag. It’s autumn in New England! No place prettier for your guests to explore during that weekend.

  • Alan Cooke

    The frittata looks awesome! We’ve been eating a ton of sauteed asparagus lately and still aren’t sick of it, but I was brainstorming new ways to use it. This looks perfect. Just made my first post on my own blog, and I’m sure asparagus will be on the menu soon! =) Thanks for sharing!
    @alanecooke

  • cory : eat and {relish}

    i feel your pain! getting married is a LOT of work….i am getting hitched on october 1st, and as excited as i am for it…..i am REALLY looking forward to october 2nd! i just keep telling myself that it is a finite stress that some point relatively soon will not exist….(exhale!). this frittata looks delish – i love frittata and salad for lunch or a light din din :)

  • Lindsay

    We served apple and pumpkin pie (w/cinnamon ice cream!) at our fall wedding last year. It was a big hit! Good luck with planning :)

  • Charlotte

    Smile til your face hurts – I love that. And that is what I felt about half way through my reception – we had a small wedding in the hall off the church we were married at – our little church in the woods where my husband’s parents were married. On a lovely autumn day so our pictures in the church garden are lovely. We had a traditional english fruit cake wedding cake – not trad at all here in North America. I think your peach pie would be perfect for a wedding. And at our fall wedding the biggest hit was the hot apple cider we served.

    And this frittata – I’ll have to make it. I’ve not been a big fan of frittata’s due to the leathery texture – so this looks like a winner.

  • Radish

    Charlotte – your wedding sounds amazing!!! And yes! Leathery! That’s exactly why I used to avoid frittatas – but no more – this is lovely and delicate.

  • Shar

    Pie sounds great to me. I think a lot of folks would prefer it to cake! Folks should only get married once so do it the way you want too. I love eggs for breakfast. Looks like you have a great twist on it. MM

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