Spring Vegetable Frittata

This is one of my go-to recipes at this time of year, when all the fresh spring vegetables start appearing. It feels light, fresh and colourful, but it’s still satisfying enough to keep you full. It’s simple to throw together, packed with flavour, and works just as well for a quick lunch as it does for an easy dinner. I also love making it ahead and keeping slices in the fridge for busy days.

From a nutrition perspective, the eggs, ricotta and feta provide plenty of protein to support recovery and keep you fuller for longer, while the vegetables add fibre, vitamins and minerals to support energy, digestion and overall health.

If you’ve never tried making a frittata before, I’d really urge you to give it a go. It’s surprisingly quick and easy, and once you’ve got the basic method down, you can also start experimenting with different flavour combinations and use up almost anything you have left lurking in the fridge.

There are just two things worth paying attention to to make sure it turns out well. The first is the size of your pan — too large and your frittata will end up more like a crumbly omelette; too small and you risk a raw middle. The second is the heat: keep it fairly low when you pour in the eggs, otherwise the bottom will stick and burn before the top is cooked through.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

  

• 6 large free range eggs

• 75g fresh or frozen peas

• 75g fresh or frozen broad beans

• 75g baby spinach leaves

• 100g small asparagus spears (or halve them if yours are larger)

• 6 spring onions

• A small bunch of fresh dill

• 1 x 250g tub of ricotta

• 75g feta

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper

You’ll also need a non-stick pan with a diameter of about 23cm.

Method

  

• Bring a small pan of water to the boil. If using frozen peas and broad beans, add to the water for 1 minute, then add the asparagus and blanch for a further minute. Otherwise add the fresh peas, broad beans and asparagus all at the same time and blanch for just 1 minute. As soon as they’re done, remove from the heat, drain in a sieve and rinse under cold running water (this will prevent them from cooking further, and ensure that they maintain their nice, appetising, bright green colour).

• Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk together with a couple of pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

• Fold in the ricotta (don’t stir too much, you want the mixture to remain a bit lumpy) and crumble in the feta.

• Roughly chop the dill and add to the bowl with the eggs and cheese.

• Add the blanched peas, broad beans and asparagus, along with the baby spinach leaves, and stir until everything’s well-coated in egg mixture.

• Slice the spring onions widthways, into small discs.

• Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat and add the spring onions. Fry for 1 minute then turn the heat down to low.

• Pour the egg mixture into the pan and leave for 10 minutes. Depending on how wide your pan is, this time may vary slightly. You can test how well the eggs are cooked by gently shaking the pan to see how much they wobble. You still want some wobble in the middle, but mostly set around the edges.

• Meanwhile, heat the grill to medium/high. Once the frittata has cooked for 10 minutes, transfer the pan to the grill and leave to cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. It can also be left to cool completely, sliced up and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.

• Serve on its own, or with a green leafy salad, a handful of cherry tomatoes, some boiled new potatoes, or a slice of crusty bread.

 

Nutrition

	Per 100g	Per serve (306g)
Calories	116 kcal	354 kcal
Carbohydrate	1.9 g	5.7 g
of which sugars	0.9 g	2.8 g
Fat	7.9 g	24 g
of which saturates	3.1 g	9.4 g
Protein	8.4 g	26 g
Fibre	1.2 g	3.6 g