Egg-Pasta Frittata

My fridge is full, bursting at the seams with too many farm-stand delights – beets, greens, leeks, fresh eggs – and a new batch of grocery store staples. Yesterday’s pumpkin cheesecake experiments are also taking up at least half of a shelf, forcing big pile-ups of mushrooms, cheeses, and leftover spaghetti, all teetering and tall. My fridge desperately needed some pruning this morning, a perfect excuse for a big breakfast.

I think Sundays are made for big, egg-filled breakfasts. Eggs are just fine on their own, but how about eggs with all those other ingredients that need freedom from my fridge like mushrooms, greens and spaghetti? And, frankly, eggs are simply better with pasta. My husband would argue that everything is better with pasta. He’s wrong. Pasta in chocolate pudding? Um, no.

Today we’re cooking a frittata of spaghetti, eggs, greens, shitake mushrooms and a touch of Parmesan. When you cook eggs with pasta, there’s no need for toast, just a nice cup of strong coffee. Or wine. If you serve it for dinner, of course!

I should add, this may not be the first time you’ve seen pasta in a frittata. But most pasta-frittata dishes hide the pasta in gallons of eggs. I love the beautiful craters between the spaghetti strands, vegetables and eggs.

Egg-Pasta Frittata

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and extra for finishing
• 2 cups of wild mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups of leftover pasta (spaghetti, in this case)
• 2 handfuls of greens (spinach, arugula, chard)
• 5 eggs, whisked a splash of cream
• Heavy sprinkle of Parmesan
• Pinches of salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven’s broiler.

On the stove, saute mushrooms in the olive oil over medium-high heat until soft, about 4 minutes. Add pasta and cook until slightly golden. Add in greens, salt and pepper, and cook until the greens wilt slightly. Pour the egg-cream blend and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Let the eggs firm up in the pan for a minute and then slide the pan under the broiler for a few minutes, until the top firms up and gets a slightly golden color. Serve with an extra sprinkle of cheese and a splash of really good olive oil.