Quick and Easy Weekend Brunch: Frittatas!

Who knew frittatas were so much fun to make? Frittatas are a great way to use up ingredients lying around your fridge to make one gigantic omelet. Some people even add PASTA to their frittatas (don’t worry, I didn’t go that crazy). I purchased all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s and it only took about 20 minutes to make everything. Add a little hot sauce to the frittata and it is probably the best breakfast food you’ll ever make on a Saturday morning.

Ingredients:
2 Trimmed Leeks
1 red pepper
2 cups Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites
6 slices of Niman Ranch bacon
1 cup broccoli

The ingredients (minus the eggs) makes 2 thick frittatas, so you can either half everything or cook all of the bacon and veggies and save half for a weekday breakfast.

First, cut the leeks in half (lengthwise) and do a quick rinse (if you buy trimmed leeks from Trader Joe’s, they are usually pretty clean, but just do a quick wash just in case):

Cut up the leeks and set them aside:

Cut up the red peppers (into bite-sized pieces) and set aside:

Cut up the bacon (into bite-sized pieces):

Cook the bacon on a cast iron skillet (which will also be used to cook the frittata):

Once the bacon is about 90% cooked, take it off the skillet and pat off the excess oil. I removed the excess oil from the cast iron pan as well (so I could use butter), but you can always just use the bacon grease to cook up the vegetables. Add one tablespoon of butter to your skillet:

Next, add your red peppers (once the red peppers have cooked down a little, add the leeks):

Then add the bacon (and some pepper):

Warning: your entire apartment will smell pretty delicious and you will be tempted to eat the filling without eggs.

Mix together the eggs and egg whites (in this picture, I also tested it with some heavy cream, but I don’t think it made a huge difference so there’s no need to use cream):

Whisk the eggs together:

And add the eggs to the filling:

Next, add a cup of parmesan cheese to the mix:

And let the eggs slowly cook and move around the pan once in a while to let the runnier parts of the egg cook a little. Once the eggs are about 90% cooked, add another cup of parmesan to the frittata:

Stick it in the oven (on broil) for 5 minutes to let the parmesan brown:

And the frittata is done!:

Serve with a delicious smoothie you can make while the frittata is in the oven:

The meal is really delicious, can be healthy (next time, I plan on adding flax seeds), and is a great way to get rid of some veggies that are just sitting in your fridge.

Total Costs:

2 Trimmed Leeks: $2.99
1 red pepper: $1.25
2 cups Parmesan cheese: $1.50
1 tablespoon butter: $0.50
6 eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites: $1.50
6 slices of Niman Ranch bacon: $2.00
1 cup broccoli: $0.75

Total Cost: $10.49 (for two frittatas!)