Towards the end of a long holiday at the sea shore, I always go through the refrigerators and do a “mopping up†operation… in other words, “leftover†patrol. After several large planned meals, there are usually a significant amount of odds and ends that need to be consumed. In this case, I spied some leftover grilled chicken that was stripped for sandwiches, leftover grilled red peppers, whole zucchinis and some basil. There were 9 more eggs left as well. I decided to make a simple frittata for a light lunch…
To make, heat up a pan and add some olive oil and sauté some chopped onion and diced zucchini. 
Add the chicken and the chopped grilled red peppers and season generously with salt and pepper. Take off the heat and allow to cool 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, turn the oven on to say 375 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, beat the 8-9 eggs thoroughly with a whisk or fork. Add the eggs to the meat and zucchini mixture and mix thoroughly, add some chopped basil or other herbs such as Italian parsley or thyme. Wipe the pan that you used for the filling with a paper towel and return it to the stove top on a medium flame. Add a large pat of butter and coat the pan with melted butter.
Pour the egg and chicken mixture into the pan and cook on the stove top for about 2-3 minutes before sticking the whole pan into the hot oven and bake until the eggs are done – say 15 or 20 minutes. 
Don’t overcook as it will dry out. Once done, slide the frittata onto a round serving platter and serve hot or at room temperature. The one in the photo was a bit thin so you could use a smaller pan and make a thicker frittata. I also made the mistake of cracking the eggs straight into the meat mixture so the eggs didn’t mix up as well as they could have. Nevertheless the taste was really good and generally speaking quite healthy as well. The frittata easily served six adults. Add some home fried potatoes, a slice of bread or some rice and it makes a complete meal. For dessert we had a fruit salad made from all the extra fruits in the fridge.
10 Responses
This looks good. I like the thin fritata photo if you ask me. Confident in its slimness but substantial in taste… Anyhoo, I cooked tortang giniling with potatoes this morning. Packed extra for my friend and wanted to write a “menu card” and claim it as fritata. Thing is, we Pinoys call it “torta”. So what’s the diff or are those labels interchangeable? And guess what and MM, I bet you’ll squirm at the thought — I love eating torta with Del Monte “Sweet Blend” Ketchup. Oh such simple pleasure…. : )
Gigi, I have always eaten my giniling torta with ketchup…see my earlier post on Torta a la Boholana, it’s probably what you had for breakfast…
i salivate as i read.. and i try imagining all the more if this is doable on a microwave instead of an oven.. single folks like us who love to eat but can’t bake.. do we have a chance? thanks.
i concur with manny… is it possible to do this with microwave?
manny and lee, I honestly have never tried this in a microwave but it is certainly worth a shot at minimal risk… I do know if you microwave an egg you will get a rather nice and messy explosion in your microwave… but if all of the ingredients except the egg are already cooked and you beat the eggs well before mixing into other stuff, you should be able to pull this off in a microwave… why not give it a try and leave a message if it works (or doesn’t) out all right?
Oh, Manny and Lee, I forgot, you can also do this totally on a stovetop if you have that. Just put the flame on low and when half cooked “flip” the frittata like you would a torta (filipino style) and slide that back into the pan to finish cooking. This can be messy but it works. So does just cooking it on one side but cover the pan…this is the least best alternative as you get a near burnt crust on one side and an undercooked other side…
The thing with cooking eggs in the microwave is that they come out steamed rather than fried or baked. They still taste like eggs, but the texture is different, and obviously you don’t get the taste of the browned bits of egg and filling. Pero in a pinch, puede na rin.
yes tortang giniling with cubed potatoes is comfort food to me too. w white rice, ketchup, banana ketchup, sri racha or sweet chilli sauce. mongo soup side dish. i love baduy food.
torta, tortilla de patata, frittata, all pretty much the same thing.
but definitely no microwave! my microwave philosophy is: strictly for reheating purposes only, if at all. MM is right– in a small teflon pan on stovetop, med-low heat, then flip over to a plate then slide back to cook other side.
Or if you are not adept at tortilla flipping: cook in a teflon pan then stick pan in your toaster oven, handle sticking out, door open. get the kind of t. oven where you can turn off the bottom heating element.
hmmm. . . I usually just put it straight in the oven. . .are there disadvantages in this procedure? One tip before cooking. . . to remove bubbles from egg mixture, lay paper or wax paper on top of the mixture then remove again, this gives the fritata a nice color on the top side. . .
Wilson, I suppose putting it straight is possible too, though I start on the stovetop to ensure a nice golden color on the bottom side… will have to try the wax paper trick…thanks!