The incredible, edible egg. I love eggs! They are a fast, cheap and easy way to get protein and good fats into you. I could eat them at every meal and I love them prepared almost any way. One of my favourite quick meals is an omelette or a frittata. I threw together this frittata with the random ingredients I found in my fridge and freezer. It was absolutely delicious! I often make them in individual silicone muffin liners and pack them in my breakfast/lunch to take to work.

Pancetta, kale, mushroom and white cheddar frittata

Makes one pretty big pan. You could half this recipe and be good. Or make it all because it is tasty.

• 2 cups of chopped kale – fresh or frozen. (I used frozen because it’s what I had on hand, and to be honest I probably only used about one cup. I just dumped the rest of the bag in)
• 200g (1/2 a pound-ish) pancetta (You could use bacon, but my Costco sells this lovely pancetta that is pre-chopped. I am a big fan of the easy)
• 16 eggs (Yep. this is a big recipe!)
• 1 pound of chopped mushrooms (I used pre-sliced baby portobellos, but any type would work)
• 1 cup (or more!) of a robust cheddar cheese cut into large chunks
• Fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Put pancetta in a pan to brown over low heat. (Yes, you’ll notice remnants of kale in there because I started to cook the veg before I had the brilliant idea to add BACON. You can’t go wrong with BACON.

Once the bacon is almost cooked, add kale and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are reduced. Add fresh ground pepper. No salt – the salt from the pancetta and cheese makes this a very salty dish already.

Spread your cooked mixture into a non-stick or well-greased pan. You’ll notice that I used one larger pan and one smaller pan. The reason for this is that I want to test out how this recipe freezes. Grad school classes begin again for me in a week so I’m busy stocking my freezer.

Chop your cheese and lay on top. Use a very robust flavoured cheese. I used Cabot white cheddar that I picked up on my recent Vermont foodcation. Parmesan would work lovely here. So would goat cheese! If you’re not into dairy, you could omit the cheese.

Mix your eggs (add some cream if you’d like – I didn’t) and pour on top of the pan(s). This recipe would likely fill two 8×8 pans. Normally I would use a silicone 9×9 pan for my fritattas but I couldn’t find it. 

Place pans on middle oven rack and bake for 30-45 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your pans. My small pan was done in about 30 minutes and the bigger one was closer to 45. Let rest for 5 minutes or so, and cut in! This was equally delicious fresh from the oven as it was cold the next day for breakfast