Simply Homemade: Baked Breakfast Frittata!

Admission time: I let life seem complicated and got caught up with other stuff so I missed posting last week for the first time since starting this blog. At the time, I thought I may feel some relief at taking a quick break…nope to the nope nope on that! I just felt like I missed my chance at sharing one of my go-to recipes that may simplify the most important meal of the day: breakfast. Well, have no fear, this post is now here and it’s filled with info on a breakfast dish that is relatively new to my family but that has saved the day for us multiple times over the past couple years.

I love frittatas for so many reasons and I have little doubt that you will too. First and least relevant but so amazing…the name frittata always makes me think of The Lion King movie phrase, “Hakuna. Matata. It means no worries!” It’s so fitting for frittata to rhyme with hakuna matata because it really is a no worries kind of recipe. As long as you follow the basic core ingredients and directions it’s pretty foolproof that it will turn out not only edible, but darn delicious. You can basically tweak the rest of the optional ingredients to your heart’s desire (or to your fridge’s limitations)! There are all sorts of recipes out there for flavor profiled frittatas but I’m sharing the core of the recipe because I know most of you reading this will appreciate the versatility.

Another big reason of my love for this recipe is that it is such a simple recipe to make fit into most meal plans regardless of dietary restrictions, time constraints, ingredient likes/dislikes, etc. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs, add extra veggies instead of meat, make individual portions with specific ingredients to differentiate, make smaller portion so it will cook faster, make the night before and warm it up the next day..or three..for an on-the-go breakfast meal. Not to mention the fact that you sound super healthy and chef-y when you volunteer to bring breakfast for a group and you say off-handedly that it will be an egg white, spinach, and roasted tomato frittata. Coworker of the year? I think yes.

Ok, onto the good stuff, what exactly is a frittata? It’s an egg based baked dish that is insanely easy to personalize how you (or those you’re serving it to) will like it best. Traditionally, frittatas are started on the stovetop and finished in the oven. But, with the whole point of this blog being keeping life simple, I skip that nonsense and make this a straight into the oven dish. More importantly, I make it an end of the week use-all-the-leftovers dish. Although that’s my practical (and, admittedly, lazy) self shining through. This is also a great planned meal that comes together with minimal effort.

Need a hearty breakfast for the guys who will spend that day working outside? How about a Canadian bacon, spicy sausage, and smoked turkey frittata (hold the green stuff)? Girls brunch complete with mimosas? Maybe a feta, spinach, and roasted red pepper egg white frittata?  Cinco de Mayo weekend and you need a hangover cure? Chorizo, green peppers, and salsa frittata coming right up! A meal for a neighbor or friend going through a rough patch? Let’s go with everyone’s go-to of crispy bacon and cheddar so they just warm and enjoy or they can chop up and put in a tortilla for on-the-go breakfast burritos! You getting my drift get? Keep the eggs and milk and basic seasonings and substitute away on the rest. There’s no harm in making a super basic one with no frills. You can always bring in a cornucopia of toppings that’s sure to make each person in the room swoon with happiness (salsas, hot sauces, bacon crumbles, Greek yogurt, chives).

Alright, alright, I’m sure you are all salivating as much as I am by now I think it’s time I share my simplified version of this recipe. Please enjoy and share with fellow breakfast-lovers out there!

Alrighty folks, usually there are quite a few detailed pictures in this space to illustrate the recipe and my tips. BUT…this one is so dang simple and I threw in so many veggies that my pictures don’t do the dish it’s delicious justice! For the one pictured, I used farm fresh sausage that my parent’s made a few weekends back, leftover veggies from a steamer with asparagus, peppers, zucchini, onions and I chose parmesan cheese to tie it together. I would have had more pictures but I brought it to work for ‘official blog taste testing’ and it disappeared quicker than I expected! FYI that reheating it sometimes makes the flavors mesh even better together. What’s better than a delicious breakfast? A somehow EVEN more delicious breakfast the following day with no extra work. Boomshackalacka!