Wild garlic & new potato frittata
A perfect vehicle for the pungent, alliaceous charms of wild garlic
Recipe Meta
Prep
10 mins
Cook
15 mins
Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 200g small new potatoes
- 20-25 wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
- 100g podded fresh peas (optional)
- 80g soft goat’s cheese, such as a Perroche
- 30g butter
Method
Because of its short shelf-life, I prefer to use as much of the wild garlic in my possession at the same time as possible, which usually means applying a bit of heat to mellow the flavour. One way to do that is to use a good bunch of the stuff in a frittata. Rarely more than 15-20 minutes’ work, 10 of which are spent waiting for it to cool. Serve with a crisp salad.
Place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water. Place over a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil then simmer for 8-12 mins, until the potatoes are tender. Drain, then leave under a running cold tap until room temperature or less. (You could easily cook these in advance or use leftovers from a previous meal). Slice in half lengthways.
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly and season with a couple of pinches of sea salt and a good pinch of white pepper. Add the potatoes and the peas (if using).
Turn your grill on. Place a 22-24cm non-stick, heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium heat. Add 10g of butter. When that’s melted, add the wild garlic and allow to wilt for 1 min.
Turn the heat up and add the rest of the butter. After 15-20 secs, the butter should be frothing. Pour in the egg mixture and push the potatoes around so they’re evenly spaced.
Turn the heat down a little (to medium again), and cook the frittata for 4 mins. At this point, the sides will come away with a spatula (and look golden underneath), but the centre will be wobbly, almost liquid. Quickly dot chunks of goat’s cheese around the frittata, then place the pan about 8-12cm under the grill. Take care not to melt the pan handle.
Cook for 2-3 mins so there’s just a little wobble left. Remove and leave to rest and firm up for 5-10 mins, then slip the frittata out of the pan onto a serving plate. This is good eaten warm, at room temperature, or cold from the fridge.
Image: Ed Smith
