Tangy goat cheese pairs well with sweet red peppers and Vidalia onions.

Frittatas are one of my favorite versatile egg dishes that span breakfast to supper, and every snack in between. Hot, cold, or room temperature, these dishes are usually a way to use what is sitting sadly in my refrigerator, those little bits of last night’s meal that are too good to toss, but too little to do much with. Over the yeas, I’ve come up with many interesting combinations . It is kind of like kitchen magic because the combinations always work!

A little smoke adds extra interest

My granddaughter and I have a new favorite goat cheese. It is a smoked pepper jelly goat cheese that has a little of everything we love. The sharp tang and headiness of the goat cheese, a little sweet from the pepper jelly, and the background smokiness that rounds everything out. It is really yummy. The smoke is wonderful in this, but if you do not have a smoked goat cheese at your fingertips, you can just leave it out or add a bit of smoked paprika to the eggs.

If you do not like goat cheese, you can substitute a Greek feta. As a Vermonter I almost always recommend one of our fabulous local cheeses, but if the choice is a domestic feta from across the country or an imported variety from Greece, I will choose the latter because it just tastes better!

Goat Cheese Frittata

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. butter

1 large vidalia onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 poblano pepper, chopped

1 small sweet red pepper, chopped

1 cup asparagus or green beans, diced

8 eggs

2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

4 ounces smoked goat cheese, crumbled or cut up

2-3 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

Heat the olive oil and butter in a 9-inch, non-stick skillet over medium/high heat.

Add the onion and sauté until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds or so, until fragrant.

Add the peppers, asparagus, salt and pepper, and continue sautéing until everything is soft and fragrant. If you are using left-over vegetables that are already cooked, add them after the peppers have softened.

Mix the eggs in a medium bowl with the parsley (and smoked paprika if using), with a whisk. Add the eggs, and season with more salt and pepper.

Pour the eggs into the pan with the vegetables and reduce the heat to medium/low. Gently stir with a spatula, moving it around the outside and through the middle. You will want to bring the eggs to about half cooked.

Remove from the heat and dot evenly all over the surface with the goat cheese. I use my fingers to gently push the cheese into the eggs a little.

Sprinkle the top with the Cheddar, and pop in the oven on the middle rack.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking now and then. It will probably take longer than this, but you want the eggs to be completely set, and the top nicely browned. It all depends on your own oven.

When ready, set aside to cool for a couple of minutes. To remove from the pan, slide your spatula around the outside of the frittata, and give it a few shakes. It should easily start to move.

Gently slip it onto a cutting board or plate, slice, and enjoy!

© Copyright 2019 – or current year, Dorothy Grover-Read, The New Vintage Kitchen.