The Weekender

Sometimes in our home we enjoy eating 'breakfast for dinner' and this Frittata was one such craving, genius on my husband's part. I affectionately refer to it as the Weekender because it's easy to throw together, it's the kind of food that you want to keep eating over & over, and it's hearty.

I also promised to give credit where credit is due, and it was my husband's idea to crisp up the cheese on top of the frittata via the broiler after it baked on the stove top, and it made this frittata perfect; seriously, perfect. Good job lovey.

You do need one nicely sized sautee pan that is both oven & stove top safe. In my dreams, I use Le Creuset, in reality; Emeril's tri-ply stainless from Bed, Bath & Beyond is a decent compromise. But one fine day, I'll have glorious pictures of my fanciful, color-coated Le Creuset cookware to share with all of you.

the Weekender Frittata:

Over medium heat:

Sautee a 1/2 lb ground or *link breakfast sausage

While sausage is cooking:

peel and cube one nice sized potato (i used new potato).

finely chop 1/4 c red onion

chop 1/2 of a red bell pepper (1/3 c or so)

Shred 1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese for use later.

Remove sausage from pan to random bowl for holding and immediately add the potato & onion to the hot pan. Pour in just a bit of water, maybe 2 tablespoons to accelerate softening the potatoes. Cook the potato & onion for about 15 minutes, stirring often and scraping up the sausage "yummies" from the bottom of the pan.

Pre-heat your broiler to "hi" or 500 degrees.

Mix with bulbous whisk:

6 eggs

1/2 c half & half

2 tsp basil

salt & pepper (i always do this on the fly, use your judgment)

Once potatoes haved cooked 15 minutes:

Add sausage back to pan, gently mix into potato mixture.

Add the chopped bell pepper; incorporate.

Add the egg mixture to cover evenly as it will start to set right away.

Cook the frittata for about 3-4 minutes, until the eggs are firmly set around the edge of the pan. Move the frittata from the stove top to the pipping hot broiler and let it cook for 4+ more minutes. Add the cheese to the top of the frittata once the top is set and no longer jiggly, and let the broiler bake the cheese until it's a deep golden brown and nicely crisped, about 5 more minutes per my broiler.

*If you use link sausages, once cooled; chop them into bite sized pieces before adding them back to cook your frittata.