Frittatas are my crowd pleasers even at times of sadness
sweet potato broccoli frittata + mushroom frittata + a bittersweet farewell
My fondness for frittatas began in college. This simple, versatile egg-based Italian dish with vegetables and cheese that was nutritious and didn’t need any kind of crust caught my busy college student schedule and my taste buds by surprise. I think this fondness is also apparent in my Substack posts. I previously wrote about a frittata with broccoli, potato, feta, onion and a frittata with lemony asparagus; both delicious.
Before I introduce the two new styles of frittatas today, let me first share the occasion that inspired their making. Unfortunately, it’s a bit sad.
Coming from an immigrant family myself, my community includes many international friends who are young professionals trying to build a good life for themselves in this amazing country (U.S.). So many of them have worked hard their entire lives in their home countries, excelled in school and college, obtained competitive job offers in the U.S., waited eagerly and patiently for visas that allow them to work here, and worked as hard as possible to achieve excellent performance in their professional world. These are the friends who bring their laptops when they come over to my place for weekend gatherings in case there is something needed for their work. This is the sense of duty and gratitude they feel for their profession. Work-life balance conversations usually end up nowhere with them. I respect their choices given they have walked a different and often a more challenging path than mine.
Many of my friends have acquired long-term visas to live in the U.S. that are tied to their employment and have built successful careers. Unfortunately, recently, one of them was derailed from this path. In a tough job market, his company laid off hundreds of employees, including him. This started a visa clock where he had to find another job or leave the country within a couple months. He tried his best, along with support from his colleagues and circle of friends, but was ultimately unsuccessful in securing a position and re-instating his visa. He had no choice but to leave the U.S. to go back to his home country and continue the process of finding a U.S. job from there.
While I could not solve his problem that impacts his life in a significant way, I knew at least I could give him a lovely send-off. I decided to host a gathering where all his friends could join, spend time with him, and create a positive experience in hopes that it helps this situation sting a bit less for him. Everyone collectively decided the farewell would be pot-luck style so we could share our favorite (and his favorite) foods with our guest of honor. There was no theme or specific cuisine for this, everyone could bring anything they wanted and I would provide all the beverages.
My immediate thought was to make a couple of frittatas since they are easy, can be enjoyed on a plate or a slice eaten with one hand, and are always delicious. Based on the vegetables and cheeses I found in my fridge, I decided to make two different ones.
Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Frittata: I placed an oven safe pan on medium-high heat, sautéed some onions, and cooked thinly sliced sweet potato with a lid until they were soft. I adjusted the heat to low-medium, added the broccoli, and let it steam with a lid for ~3-4 mins until it was tender yet crunchy. I reduced the heat to low. I whisked 6 eggs with salt and pepper along with white cheddar cheese and asiago cheese. I added this mix into the pan, added the lid back on, and cooked the frittata on low heat for 20 mins. I finished it in the oven by placing this pan in the center rack and using the broil function. This took about 5 mins to finish cooking the top of the frittata. I confirmed with a tooth pick that the egg was cooked completely.
Mushroom Onion Cheese Frittata: Using similar steps as the previous one, I first cooked some onions and mushrooms. This took ~10 mins on medium heat to partially sweat out the mushrooms and extract their umami flavor. I then added the egg mix (6 whisked eggs, salt pepper, pecorino cheese) and finished the frittata first on the stove and then in the oven.
Both the frittatas looked visually appealing and quite inviting. I had to do a taste test while they were still hot and fresh out of the oven. I sliced off a piece of each and delighted in each bite. The sweetness of the sweet potato married with spiciness of cheddar cheese, crunchiness of the broccoli, and softness of the egg made this a winning combination for me. The combination of mushrooms with the strong pecorino cheese was also an ultimate comfort bite. I had a feeling my guests would enjoy both these frittatas.
While I got to savor these frittatas warm, I served them room temperature to my guests due to logistics of having many people over and everyone needing the kitchen to get their pot luck dish into the serving stage. The entire kitchen counter and all the tables were full of food; I was glad I got my dishes finished earlier in the afternoon. I sliced the frittatas, guests picked up the slices with their hands, and savored them as they mingled with each other. These frittatas were absolute crowd pleasers. Our guest of honor loved them too and declared the sweet potato version his favorite over the mushroom one.
What an evening it was. We gathered, we mingled, we shared stories of our fun times with our friend. We shared our sadness over him leaving the country and us not being able to spend time together in the same way. We also shared our hopes that he will find his way back to the U.S. again and we would be here to help in any way possible. There were farewell gifts, tears, laughter, promises to keep in touch, and plenty of food to comfort us all on this bittersweet evening.
Dish Debrief
Is this my winner or disaster? absolute winner
How would I rate this dish out of 10? 10 out of 10
What would I change next time? keep exploring with veggie + cheese combos
Would I make this again? yes yes yes