I love frittatas for so many reasons. For one thing they are equally good for breakfast, lunch or for dinner. Secondly you can prepare the frittata in advance, zap it in the microwave, and serve it with fruit or a salad for a super quick and delicious meal. It is basically a crustless quiche. You begin cooking it on the stove and finish cooking it in the oven until it puffs up and turns golden. Its easy and cheesy and filled with protein.

These are the ingredients you need. If you can not find Gruyere you can use Swiss cheese instead. Try to use nitrate free bacon and organic spinach if you can find them.

I wanted the frittata to serve 4 people so I knew I needed to use 8 eggs for the recipe. But I when I made it with just the 8 eggs the frittata was not tall enough...I wanted the similar thickness of a quiche. So I decided to add the 2 egg whites to achieve the fluffiness and height I desired. Crack your 8 eggs in a medium bowl, then with the 9th and 10th egg, crack the egg in half, then carefully transfer the yolk between the 2 shells, letting the white fall into the bowl and finally discarding the yolk with the shells.

The brand of Gruyere cheese I buy has a hard rind on the 2 ends that needs to be removed.

Simply slice the cherry tomatoes in half .

Cut the green onions into thin slices. When putting the sliced green onions in a bowl to set aside, put the green part in the bowl first and the white second. When you are making your frittata you will sprinkle 2/3 of the onions into the egg mixture and save the remainder for sprinkling on at the end. The green part of the onion is best for the garnish and the white part is best for the egg mixture. So this is why I am suggesting that you put the green part in first since you will use it last.

Remove the long stems from the spinach, then stack the leaves and roughly chop them.

Stack 3 pieces of bacon on top of each other and thinly slice down the length of the bacon about 1/4" thick. You have now created bacon lardons...yippie! Slice the remaining 3 slices the same way. Once cut, you can throw the bacon lardons into your pan to cook later.

Have all your ingredients prepped and your oven preheated before you begin to cook.

I know what your thinking...this looks like too much bacon. First of all there can never be too much bacon, and secondly the bacon will cook down considerable. While the bacon is cooking stir the bacon to break up the layers of three that stuck together while slicing the bacon.

Once the bacon has cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour the grease from the pan into a small bowl. You can use a little of it to grease your pan when cooking the tomatoes.

Save a tiny bit of bacon grease or olive oil in your pan and saute the tomatoes for 1 minute. Then add the spinach and 2/3 of the green onions and cook another minute. You just want the spinach to wilt a little bit, you are not trying to cook it all the way.

Add the tomato,spinach, onion mixture to your eggs. Then add half your cheese, your bacon, and salt and pepper. Wipe out your pan and re oil the pan with a little oil or bacon grease. Most frittatas are made in the pan without mixing the ingredients into the eggs.( You saute your veggies and then pour the eggs on top) But when you make a frittata this traditional way all the goodies are on the bottom layer and the eggs sit on the top. I do not care for how the frittata looks once you cut into it using this method. I like seeing all the ingredients mixed up throughout the frittata.

You can slide your frittata onto a cutting board once it has cooked, so you can slice it into wedges easier. I usually cut it into 4 wedges if this is being used for a meal. You can cut smaller wedges if you are serving it as a tapas appetizer.

I love the combination of the warm frittata with the cool crisp watermelon. When my boys were growing up I would often make quiche for dinner. I always served watermelon with our quiche...it was our tradition. So naturally this is by far my favorite way to enjoy my frittata!

BACON,TOMATO,SPINACH,AND GRUYERE FRITTATA RECIPE

Serves 4 people

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

8 eggs
2 egg whites = 10 eggs total
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 of a 5 ounce box of spinach, about 1 cup, roughly chopped
6 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4" slivers

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

10" nonstick, ovenproof saute pan

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium bowl crack 8 eggs.
Crack open the last 2 eggs, but use the whites only. Use a fork to whisk eggs till combined.
Grate your cheese and set aside.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and set aside.
Slice the green onions thinly, put the green slices in the bowl first then the white slices and set aside.
Remove the stems from your spinach and roughly chop, set aside.
Stack 3 pieces of bacon on top of each other and thinly slice lardons about 1/4" wide. Repeat with remaining 3 pieces of bacon. Add bacon to a nonstick, oven proof 10" saute pan.
Cook bacon on medium high heat till it starts to sizzle, then turn heat down to medium and cook bacon till crisp and lightly browned.
Remove bacon with slotted spoon onto paper towels to drain and pour almost all the bacon grease into a small bowl. Save about a teaspoon to saute the tomatoes.
Put the pan back on medium heat and saute the tomatoes for 1 minute.
Add the spinach and 2/3 of the green onions to the pan, stir and cook one more minute.
Add the tomato, spinach, green onion mixture to the egg mixture. Throw in the bacon, half the cheese, and 2 pinches of salt. Stir to combine.
Wipe out your pan with a damp paper towel, dry the pan and put in a little oil or bacon grease to swirl around and coat the pan. Turn the burner onto medium heat and add the egg mixture.
Cook the egg mixture on a minute or two, the sides will set a little. Open the oven door and carefully put pan into oven, trying not the slosh the mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes remove pan from oven. Sprinkle on remaining cheese and the remaining green onions.
Insert pan back into oven and cook another 5 minutes.
Remove pan and test the center with a knife to make sure the eggs are set.
Slide the frittata onto a cutting board and cut into 4 or 6 wedges.

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Note: This recipe calls for a nonstick ovenproof pan. Most nicer brands can withstand heat up to 400 degrees in the oven as long as the handle is metal and not plastic. If you are not sure then look up on your brands website. I have a calphalon, which is safe up to 450 degrees with a nonstick surface. If you do not have a 10" pan, then adjust the ingredients to your pan's size.