Frittatas are the Italian version of an omelette, and my idea of an omelette- not that I really eat them- is to put all sorts of things inside them. I had a number of egg whites left over from making tart doughs earlier on in the week and decided to pour them all together in this comprehensive frittata. It’s rich and chock-full of good things, but on the lighter side due to it being mostly egg whites- lower in cholesterol and fat! It’s very, very simple, despite having tons of ingredients… so try it! :)

Low-Fat Egg-White Frittata

Ingredients:

• 6 egg whites (large, cage-free, brown, organic eggs)
• 3 whole eggs
• 2/3 cup organic skim milk
• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup fresh sweet yellow corn, organic
• 1/4 cup fresh green peas, organic
• 2 tablespoons freshly-grated Reggianito cheese
• 3/4 cup chopped peppered deli turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach, organic
• 1/4 cup finely chopped baby carrots, organic

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place all frittata ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together briefly until just combined. For a firmer consistency, add a tablespoon or two of organic AP flour.
3. Butter a large, shallow tart dish fairly generously and pour in batter.
4. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown and mixture is set in well; wiggles when shaken lightly.
5. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes; then slice with a smooth knife and eat warm.

I told you it was simple! It’s very quick, very very very simple- did I mention how simple this is?- and hearty. You can make it as a weeklong leftover dish, or comfortably feed it to 5-6 people. Long live Italian practicality.

I know, I know, but trust me when I say this is the last panino recipe for some time! It was a beautiful sunny day, the boyfriend and I had no set plans other than cleaning, and suddenly it came to me: what a wonderful day for a picnic! I called to get his thoughts on the subject, and as it involved eating food, he naturally wasn’t opposed, and thus I set about making picnic food: panino and potato salad, put together a canteen of orange juice, package up a few cookies and berries, and we’re set! Ah, right, back to the panino…

This one has turkey in it, but the real ‘meat’ of this sandwich is the roasted red bell pepper. You can roast it yourself or get it in a can at the market- just make sure they’re large and whole so that you can get the full effect, rather than small pieces! Spinach and fresh mozz round out this sandwich to make it flavourful and delicious. And what’s that particular zesty taste? It’s a mix of my house-made shallot pesto + some oregano-basil tomato sauce! These all melded together to make an incredibly delicious picnic food.

Zesty Turkey Bell Pepper Panino

Ingredients (makes 1 panino):

Process:

The tomato sauce + pesto + roasted bell pepper makes this one a powerful punch of flavour, so be prepared for a bit of a kick! For an added burst,  add in 2 tsp (1 per side) of caramelized onions or shallots. Yum!

The second panino H and I assembled was by far the yummier of the two, and all thanks to a chance added ingredient. The flavours of this one were fantastic, to the point where the boyfriend happily wrote me upon having eaten his take-home panino half, “That second panino was sooooo good!!” and he usually doesn’t go out of his way to comment after the fact, which clearly speaks in favour of this hot pressed sandwich. It’s got some really fun textures going on and is downright delicious. Herein lie its secrets:

Hot Italian Panino

Ingredients (makes one sandwich):

• 2 slices cut approx. 1-inch thick of rustic bread of your choice (french boule, rustic/country bread, a fairly dense ciabatta, etc- so long as it’s got few holes and a good crust)
• 5-8 fresh basil leaves
• 3-4 slices fresh mozarella or fresh Italian cheese (we used one which H picked up at the Whole Foods cheese counter of which we both immediately forgot the name, but it was fantastic. More consisent than fresh mozz but creamier and more flavourful)
• 1 tsp – 1 tablespoon (depending on your preference) of pesto (I used the disastrous one I made specifically for this sandwich)
• 2 slices deli turkey (my suggestion would be a smoked or oven-roasted one)
• 1 roasted red bell pepper (jarred works fine)

Process:

1. Heat panini press or grill pan
2. Assemble cheese slices onto one of the bread slices
3. Arrange basil leaves over cheese (see pictures below)
4. Arrange turkey slices over the basil leaves
5. Place red bell pepper over the turkey
6. Spread pesto evenly onto other bread slice
7. Put bread slices together carefully so as to not spill ingredients
8. Place sandwich on panini press and pull down the top; or, place on grill pan and place pressing tool on top; or, place on grill pan and if you do not have a panini press, put a heavy weight on top
9. Grill/press for 4-5 minutes, then if browned to your preference, flip over and grill for another 4-5 minutes
10. Remove from heat, slice in half at a slight diagonal, and dig in :)

It’s incredibly quick and simple, as if you have ready-made ingredients the onl thing you really have to do is cut the cheese… and yet, for under 10 minutes of work and a bit more for prep time and cleaning, you have a gourmet lunch/dinner that’s portable, delicious, and features a wide variety of textures. Try it out and vary the ingredients! You could add tomato (but be careful, they may eject juice), eggplant, zucchini, you name it.

I was on a mission to make some amuse-bouche items for dinner last night, and settled on two recipes, one of which was this strudel. My mother makes a very yummy apple strudel, but savoury (particularly sweet-and-savoury) strudel is something I’ve been experimenting with for some time. The recipe I followed in my book (Antipasti, by Simon and Schuster- yes, that makes me think of Glee (great book, by the way, I highly reccommend it for sophisticated appetizers)) called for pancetta… but as I don’t eat red meat and I did plan on having some of this one, I substituted for turkey in half of the strudels and no meat in the other half.

The process is quite simple: Prepare your ingredients before you deal with the phyllo dough (the ingredients could be just about anything) because it will dry quickly and tear and make you cry because it’s ripping and- you get the idea. I went with the following for this iteration (and did not use exact quantites, I apologize): chopped pear pieces, crushed cashews, mesquite deli turkey, shredded mozzarella, grated domestic parmesan, salt, pepper, olive oil, and freshly-grated gruyere. The original recipe suggested fennel seeds and butter for the top, both of which I decided to forgo. Once you’ve assembled your ingredients (aka tossed them haphazardly onto the phyllo (just pretend you’re Italian, making pizza, and know what you’d doing (gesticulating wildly and muttering melodically about your cousin Mario should do the trick))), roll your phyllo, and place it on a cookie sheet.

You can, at this point, do a number of things. Brush it with olive oil, butter (choose soy butter!), or egg (as I did for this strudel, then top with cheese and salt if savoury (I sprinkled on parm, grated on some gruyere, added large sea salt, cracked pepper, and some honey (that’s what burned/caramelized, but it tastes great, worry not)) or, if sweet, sugar. Bake them at 365 degrees for about 15 minutes and then eat them hot out of the oven or refrigerate overnight for a more dense, consistent strudel. If sweet, eat it hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream- you can never go wrong with that combination.

It’s a yummy thing to make for dinner parties as you could make these even smaller than I did- I was too lethargic to attempt cutting the phyllo, but you can easily cut it to make tiny strudel rolls or square for strudel packages! A pizza cutter is the easiest way to cut the phyllo, but be careful- depending on the brand (or if you’re brave and made it yourself), you’ll have to be quick and efficient to avoid drying and tears.

Try it and see what ingredients you like filling your strudels with! Sweet, savoury, or a bit of both, these delectable treats can be eaten as a small appetizer or sliced thickly for a main course.

I’m a bit at a loss on what to call this one, as it has a number of flavours going on, so “country” was the winning word. The boyfriend told me this morning, “I’m going to go take a quick shower- have breakfast ready when I get back?” and when I inquired as to what this breakfast should consist of, he replied “Eggs?”- his typical response. I thought of what ingredients I had handy, and went through the egg options. Frittatas- eh, wasn’t in the mood to have a bunch of leftovers, and I needed to wash the muffin pans thoroughly from the leftover strawberry residue prior to re-using so… no to that one. Scrambled eggs- too simple, too boring. I had yet to make an omelette- I don’t like eggs, so I tend to stay away from egg-y foods- but thought, eh, my sister does it all the time, I might as well try.

Into the skillet went the following:

• 2 large organic brown eggs
• 1/3ish+ cup fat-free organic milk
• 6 drops of concentrated tomato paste
• 1 slice shredded mesquite deli turkey
• Shredded mozarella
• Parmesan sticks
• Freshly-cracked pepper & sea salt

The result was a large, thick, meat-like substance that I suppose was am omelette :). The boyfriend was convinced I had magically created a large portion of chicken for him, so large and thick was this omelette. The texture seemed really nice on the inside, ever-so-slightly runny where the melting cheese met the liquid egg. The boyfriend reported that the tomato paste taste was subtle, and that there were a number of flavours melding nicely on the plate. There was some decent burning on the top- mostly due to my lack of omelttery experience- but the boyfriend assured me that the “burnt protein taste” was nicely enjoyable and sophisticated. I’ll probably try something a bit different for my next omelette, but am rather content with my first whack at it!