SoATW Friday: Deadline Frittata

Congratulations on surviving yet another week of Summer of All The Words! We've got a bit more than a month left, and I'm about ten days away from a massive deadline, so this is going to be a quick post.

Fittingly, it is about my favorite quick dinner: the frittata.

When I'm this close to deadline, it's just not possible to make a fancy dinner, especially when 3/5 of my crew are getting home after 7. They want food, and they want it right away, and I want them to eat something other than pizza or smoothies.

Enter the frittata: a less-fussy version of an omlette, stuffed with whatever leftovers you have lying around. I can't even give you a proper recipe, because it's just...a mishmash. Google it, if you lack confidence, but I swear it's the easiest thing in the world.

A frittata has only two hard and fast requirements: Eggs, and a nonstick skillet you can put in the oven (no plastic handle!). A regular skillet would work, I suppose, but eggs tend to stick.

Here's how it works:

Crack a bunch of eggs in a bowl. For five people, I usually use seven, but whatever you've got is fine. Add a little milk, a pinch of salt and as much pepper as you're comfortable with. Beat with a fork.
Pull out whatever leftovers you want to get rid of: small or cut-up pasta, cooked veggies or meat, tomatoes about to go south, odds and ends of cheese (we like goat cheese, broken into clumps). If you have grated cheese, put a little bit to the side.
Melt butter or olive oil in the non-stick skillet.  Not a ton, but enough to coat the pan nicely.
Pour in the eggs. Swirl them around. When they start to set but are still very liquidy on top, mix in your leftovers. Leave the pan on medium heat.
Let it cook. There's no real point in poking at it, unless you want to pull the edges away from the side of the pan and let the uncooked egg dribble into that space. I do this once or twice, but it's not essential.
When it's almost completely set, sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Run the whole thing under the broiler until the cheese starts to get melty and a TEENY TINY bit brown.
Wrap a towel or hot pad around the handle and pull it out. The handle will be VERY HOT, and it is hard to type with a giant burn on your hand.
Serve to ravenous family with some good bread and whatever condiments you like.
Feel virtuous for combining protien and veg in one pan, which someone else should wash.
Get back to work.

And work is exactly where I'm headed now. I'll be around for the nightly twitter meetups, and next Friday's blog. Otherwise I'll be pretty scarce for the next week or so. Check in with each other here or over at Clara's blog, and I'll see you Sunday night!