Palmabella's Passions

Yesterday I received a wonderful surprise in the mail. Deborah, a Slow Travel friend, was inspired to send me two books! She had a book signing in her bookstore, and thought of me after reading my blog entry on "Missing Italy". Deborah, herself an accomplished cook and baker, sent me an autographed copy of Rosalie Fiorino Harpole's Rosalie Serving Italian! Besides the wonderful recipes, Rosalie shares stories of growing up in her large Italian family. Many of the recipes are very close to all the tastes and flavors I grew up with. This is a perfect addition to my Italian cookbook collection! (I'll tell about the second book in another blog post.)Thank you Deborah!

Here is the first recipe I made from the book: Frittata

Frittata

2 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
1 large potato, or 4 red potatoes, unpeeled and sliced thin
1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper

6 eggs beaten
2 T. half and half
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
3-4 basil leaves, shredded (optional)

freshly grated parmesan to garnish
parsley or basil to garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Put oil and butter in 10" oven-proof skillet.
Saute the potatoes, onion and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry over medium heat until potatoes are tender, 8-10 minutes.

Beat eggs with half and half until fluffy. Fold in cheeses and parsley. Pour egg mixture over potatoes and cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes, until eggs begin to set and bubble, but are still runny on top. Add basil if desired. Place skillet in oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove skillet and transfer frittata onto a large round serving plate. The frittata should easily slide out of pan. Garnish with parmesan, parsley or basil, salt and pepper. Cut into pie slices. Serves 6.

* Notes:
This was a lovely memory of my mom's frittatas. The scent of cooked eggs with potatoes, onions, and Romano cheese, brought me back about 45 years! While other kids had PB&J sandwiches, I had frittatas in my lunchpail.

*I added a few slices of salami, at Brad's request, and used fontina cheese instead of mozarella. We ate the WHOLE THING for dinner!