Chicken Egg Veggie Frittata

Remember those miserable days when you woke up late and found your cell dead on bed side; breakfast time was already over and lunch time was slipping very fast; had to rush to your workplace and then you remembered that you had to arrange your lunchbox for that day for any stupid reason????

Yes, we all had those days sometimes. For a late riser like me it is not a big deal to skip breakfast and begin the day when others has already reached their mid-day. But when you had to face a situation as mentioned above I guess most of us would think about going back to bed again. Consider yourself as the luckiest person on the mother Earth if you really can do that. 

Nope, I’m not that much lucky to spend more time with my bed. Yes, today was that ‘Black Friday’ for me. Not only I was late to wake up I again wasted my precious time on yelling at my cell. Ya ya I know even any 9 years old doesn’t do that these days :( Some people never change in their lifetime anyways. I had to fix a brunch and also needed to keep some part of it separated as tiffin (can’t call it lunchbox anymore as lunch time was about to pass by; Sigh!!!).

After the first 440V shock I cooled myself by saying “I’m not the only one”. Then I remembered it is a very normal thing to some people who belong to parts of Spain. And actually it is an Italian tradition to save some wedges from breakfast or brunch and to enjoy them later as lunch or snacks. Talking about some Spanish and Italian cuisine, how did I dare to ignore their typical brunch recipes!!! 

I had no other options than Frittata to make my brunch quicker and tastier and ofcourse healthier too. Frittata is a common Spanish and Italian style flat egg based preparation which is very much similar to our omelet or Kuku from Middle-East. The difference between omelets and frittata is omelets are thinner in thickness and can be folded where frittatas are thicker and spongy. The texture is more like sponge cake. Middle-Eastern Kuku has more similarities with Frittata. But they are made in small portions as single serving and frittatas are made in large portions to serve 8-12 people at a time. The concept is similar to Pizza here.

The main ingredients are eggs, all-purpose flour and milk in frittata. They are accompanied with chicken, pork, fresh veggies along with various cheese and fresh or dried herbs. The egg and flour hold the entire content. Sometimes salsa sauces are also piled with the mixture to add an extra layer of flavors.

Traditionally frittatas are made on large cast-iron skillet and finally the process ends in oven by broiling. This can also be made on flame only. But it is damn tricky, trust me. So for a lazy bum like me microwave was the life-saver here. I opted for convection mode in microwave which freed my two hands for 20-30 mins to finish off my other pending tasks.

For today I made a simple healthy chicken Frittata with some veggies whichever I found in my pantry. I spiced it up with some dried herbs and salsa sauce which I found in my refrigerator. On some other day I’ll like to move it to next level by adding some spices or sauces or something else to the batter. But that will be some other day. so here is the recipe and step by step process of Chicken Veggie Frittata preparation.

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breast: 300 gms.

Eggs: 4

Milk: 1/3 cup

All-purpose flour: ¼ cup

Onion (large): 1½ - 2

Capsicum or bell peppers of different colors (Large): ½ of each color bell peppers

Fresh Red and Green chillies: 3-4

Garlic: 5-6 cloves

Salt to taste

Oil: 1 tbsp

Black pepper:  1 tsp

Chilli flakes: 1-2 tsp

Dried Oregano: 1 tsp

Dried Parsley: 2 tsp

Cucumber: 1/3 of a medium one (optional)

Cherry tomatoes: 5-6 (optional)

Mozzarella cheese: ¼ cup

Parmesan cheese: ¼ cup (I dint have so I skipped it)

Sour cream: 1 tsp for each serving (optional)

Salsa sauce: for serving (optional)

Preparation:

Clean and make bite size pieces of chicken.

Roughly chop 90% of onion, bell peppers into cubes.

Finely chop rest onion, bell peppers, chillies, garlic.

Make thin slices of mozzarella cheese or grate them.

Grease the baking pan with a little butter.

Preheat the oven in 200°C. (See Tips)

Break eggs into a large bowl and keep white and yolks separated.

Beat egg yolks with little milk then mix egg whites in it and keep beating.

In the mean while heat oil in a pan and fry garlic until golden brown in color.

Add chicken pieces with pinch of salt. Fry them until they change the color to slightly golden brown or chicken is done. Switch off the flame and keep aside the chicken and garlic until needed.

Mix all-purpose flour to the egg mixture and keep beating to avoid lump formation. (See Tips)

When the mixture is smooth and foamy add rest of the milk little by little. Keep beating.

Dunk the veggies straight into the bowl.

Add on onion chunks. Mix with the egg mixture with a light hand.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan. (See Tips)

Distribute the stir fried chicken and garlic uniformly over the mixture.

Sprinkle salt, pepper powder and chili flakes.

Arrange the cheese on the top of the mixture.

Arrange finely chopped veggies on the top without disturbing the rest layers.

Place the pan in the oven and bake at 200°C for 25 to 35 mins.

Insert a knife or skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean your frittata is done; If not bake again for another 5-10 mins or until golden in color.

Once baking is done take out the pan from oven and keep on wire rack to cool off. (See Tips)

Cut into six wedges of the frittata and place them into individual serving plates. Sprinkle dried oregano and parsley on each wedges.

Top each wedges with sour cream and salsa sauce. Serve warm with cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

Tips:

1.  Keep the baking pan inside the oven while preheating. This will fasten the baking later.

2.  Add flour little by little with one hand and keep mixing with other hand. Be very careful not to form any lumps at all. Even tiniest lumps are enough to spoil the entire preparation. If any any lump is formed, break immediately with back of a spoon and keep mixing together continuously.

3.  The mixture will expand and rise up while baking so fill only 2/3^rd of the pan. there should 
be enough space in the pan to let the mixture expand.

4.  Be cautious while the frittata is cooling off. It may seem cooled down by touching the baking pan from outside. But that doesn't mean the frittata is actually not hot enough to burn your hands. So, don’t touch it with bare hands.(experience does matter!!!)