Since I am a big fan of buying on sale and in season (and locally!), when the first of the local asparagus went on sale for $0.98 a pound, you know what I did. I bought six pounds of it. We used it in our stir fry on Monday, eat it for a snack and are making it into a lovely breakfast frittata. I told you we eat a lot of eggs here.

Asparagus, Potato & Goat Cheese Frittata

Butter, more than you think
1 pound asparagus, tough ends broken off and saved for cream of asparagus soup or, at the very least, the compost pile, and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced in no more than 1/2 inch cubes (peeled if you like, but I leave them on for color)
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt, to taste
18 large eggs
1 cup milk
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 pound goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

I use our largest skillet for this, and it is large: 15 inches. You could do it in two smaller pans if you don't have one this large, or if you don't need to feed as many people, you could cut this in half, but the leftovers are great when you don't have anything for breakfast the next day, or with a salad for lunch. Assemble all your ingredients before you start.

Heat your skillet over medium high heat, until it is smoking hot. While it is heating, whisk up your eggs with the milk and some black pepper, enough that it looks right to your taste. When the pan is hot, add the butter to melt, you can cut it with oil if you are worried about it burning. This will ensure that nothing sticks in your pan. As soon as it melts, before it really starts to foam, toss in the potatoes to brown them and start them cooking. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the onions to soften, cook another 5 minutes or so. Add in the asparagus, the thyme, rubbing it between your fingers as you sprinkle it into the pan and salt to your liking. Stir this around until it is almost completely cooked, maybe another minute or two.

Pour in the egg and adjust the heat to medium or lower. Dot with the crumbled goat cheese. Slip your spatula or wooden spoon around the edges and kind of swirl the egg to cook a little more of it. You want the egg to start to set, but not to cook all the way. Do NOT cook too long on the stove, or you will have burned veggies or burned egg or both.

When the egg is starting to look set, turn off the heat and put under the broiler to finish cooking, maybe 5 minutes. The second it is cooked, pull out and sprinkle with the parmesan. Slice and serve with whole grain toast. We're big fans of the whole grain toast, too. Make sure you have your coffee or tea ready, some milk, and you are set. High protein, high flavor, warm breakfast in just about 20 minutes cooking time, probably half an hour from start to serve. Less, if you put your children to work prepping veggies and grating cheese for you.

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen