Tiny Tomato Frittata
This has been a wonderful tomato summer. One of our favorite activities every Friday has been to take a look at the variety of tomatoes that we’re getting in our CSA box from Downing Hollow Farm. Some of our favorites have been the very small ones that have come in every color. But what can you do with tomatoes that tiny? Yes, they’re great just to pop in your mouth or in a salad, but we wanted to find more to do with them.
Our favorite experiment has turned out to be our tiny tomato frittata. It’s a quick and simple preparation that lets the flavor of the tomatoes really stand out, and it gives us something else to do with eggs. One word of caution: if you’re using whole tiny tomatoes like we were, be careful on those first few bites. The juices inside the tomatoes taste absolutely wonderful, but they do get very hot.
Tiny Tomato Frittata
Ingredients
- 1 c tiny tomatoes rinsed and de-stemmed
- 12 leaves fresh basil chiffonaded
- 6 beaten eggs
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 c Parmesan or other hard cheese shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat broiler.
- Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat on the stovetop.
- Beat eggs with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
- Saute whole tomatoes until skins start to pucker, about 3 minutes. You can used halved cherry or grape tomatoes, but you will need to drain off the liquid they release.
- Add basil chiffonade and continue to saute until basil is crisped.
- Arrange tomatoes evenly across the skillet in a single layer. Pour in beaten eggs slowly so as not to clump the tomatoes. Do not disturb the egg mixture after pouring into the skillet.
- Watch the eggs to see that the bottom has set and the edges are starting to pull away from the sides of the skillet, about 2 minutes. The top should still be runny. Remove from the heat.
- Quickly sprinkle shredded Parmesan evenly over the eggs or shred directly over with a Microplane grater.
- Move skillet to preheated broiler until cheese is melted and eggs are cooked through and puffy.
- Slice and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and fresh basil leaves.
Is this with your homegrown eggs? Regardless, it looks delicious and I love a good frittata in the evening with spinach and mushrooms.
Sadly, I can’t even see the word frittata without thinking about this classic Achewood strip. (Y’all have mentioned the webcomic before… I keep forgetting to bring up my long admiration of Onstead’s work, and I shed a tear when Roast Beef finally got married.)
Those are indeed Squirrel eggs. We need to get together so we can give you some.
Onstad is America’s greatest living writer. Someday, philosophers will look back at this strip as the defining moment of the century.