CARAMELISED ONION FRITTATA
w/ a red chilli citrus salsa
Good morning!
Without meaning to I have written a very season appropriate egg based recipe for the upcoming Easter weekend, and I can confirm this would be a perfect addition to any breakfast, lunch or dinner spread if you are scouting for ideas.
Before we get into the recipe, I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came to our #CookForPalestine event at the weekend. On Saturday we hosted a canteen style lunch for 150 people out of our warehouse home. We set out a few trestle tables and benches, put together a playlist of the best music to come out of Palestine, and showcased the beautiful postcards from Pen Palestine and prints by Wayfaring Wild. I was prepping the food throughout the week, but we had a team of seven friends arrive at the crack of dawn to help get the food over the finish line. We shaped and baked 200 mini bread rolls, diced 15kg of onions and mixed enough tahini sauce to feed a small army. It was easily the biggest event Virginia and I have ever tackled and it came with lots of challenges, not least the very nature of cooking that much food in our domestic kitchen. But thanks to the generosity of our friends, partners and peers, we made it work. Thank you for supporting and helping us raise these vital funds, I’ll be giving a more detailed breakdown of how much money we raised and where it will be going in the coming days.
I would say the highlight of the menu on Saturday was the fried onions that we sprinkled on top of the Mejadra. There is something impossibly delicious about a perfectly crisp, golden brown, fried onion, sprinkled with salt, still warm from the pan. We were all snacking on them by the fistful by the end of the day. Try as we might to fry all the onions, we still had a huge container leftover at the end of the event, and so I decided to put them to good use in a frittata. I also needed to whip something up to contribute to our warehouse pot luck dinner on Monday, and this worked perfectly. A frittata is a great option to make for a big gathering, its best served at room temperature, so can be made ahead, and lasts very well in the fridge. If you are catering for gluten free friends, it’s ideal, and is a welcome addition to any meal.
I hope you all have a wonderful break over easter, if that’s something you celebrate, and if not, I hope you get to enjoy the bank holidays regardless.
Sending love, Rosie x
CARAMELISED ONION FRITTATA w/ a red chilli citrus salsa
This recipe could not be easier, but you do need a bit of time on your hands to caramelise the onions to perfection. If you want to split up the jobs then you can cook the onions days ahead of time as they keep really well in the fridge for up to 5 days. The assembly and bake is super quick and can be done the morning you would like to eat it, as long as there is a few hours of cooling time to get it down to room temperature. I have a strong love for a piece of frittata dipped into ketchup, which might be blasphemy? I don’t know. I made the salsa to use up a bunch of ingredients we had lying around, but it’s also a lovely sharp and spicy contrast to the creamy frittata. Feel free to substitute the coriander for another herb, and the red onion for any other onion you prefer, make this salsa work for you! (or just serve with a dollop of Heinz ketchup)
Serves 6-8
For the frittata:
500ml extra virgin olive oil
1kg thinly sliced white onions
2 tsp sea salt, plus more to season to your taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 large potatoes, peeled, finely grated and squeezed of all their moisture
12 eggs
200ml sour cream
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
For the salsa:
2 medium red chillis, finely diced, seeds in tact
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 lemon, zested, white pith removed and the flesh diced
a small bunch of coriander, finely diced
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c and grease a 9”x13” baking dish with butter.
Place a large pot over a medium heat and add the olive oil, onions, salt and pepper. Cook down, stirring occasionally for at least 1 hour, until the onions are soft, jammy and sweet. Make sure the heat isn’t too high, you don’t want the onions to crisp up and brown, but rather stew in their juices and cook slowly, remaining soft. You can do this days in advance and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Add the grated potato into the onions and keep cooking for another 30 minutes until the potato is tender, stirring occasionally. At this point, taste for seasoning and add more salt and black pepper if necessary. Take the pan off the heat and set to one side to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and Aleppo pepper.
Add the onions and potatoes to the egg mix and stir well to combine.
Pour the frittata mix into the greased tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes until the top is set, bounces back to the touch and a cocktail stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While the frittata is baking, make the salsa by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Allow the frittata to cool down to room temperature and then serve a thick slice with a dollop of salsa.
If you don’t finish it all in one go, a lovely way to eat the leftovers is sandwiched between two slices of bread and butter!
This looks delicious! Is 500ml the correct measure of olive oil?