King Prawn Frittata

Isn't it pretty?

There we were, on Monday afternoon, pondering what we could have for Tuesday's "Pizza day".  Son & heir will be happy busily working his way through a pizza, which leaves us room to make and have something that is likely to make his hair stand on end in horror, should he find it on his plate.

We were both trying to think along the lines of "what would be good for Jenny's Anti-inflammatory diet", which rules out the likes of pasta, potatoes and bread.  Some cheese is good, some cheese is bad, likewise for meat.  Beef & fish (especially oily fish) are good, chicken is not so good.

How the thought process goes, is that we focus in on what we "feel like" - what we're hankering towards at the time.  We were both agreed on fish - and I suddenly remembered the King Prawns that we'd used in a risotto recently.

Well, that got hubby's brainbox going and before you could say "Frittata" (or "Fritatatatatatatata", as it has become known), he'd thought up the most delightful recipe.

We mused over the inclusion of chicken along with the prawns (after the style of a Paella), but threw that idea out in the end as being just a bit too confused.

We also pondered on using tomato along with the red pepper, but that got ditched because raw tomato isn't good from an anti-inflammatory point of view - and these tomatoes would be cooked lightly.  However, do experiment with tomato if you feel like it - I'm quite sure some halved or quartered cherry tomatoes would be lovely included in the mix.

We used just ordinary free-range hen's eggs, but if you were wanting to pimp your Frittata for guests, I can recommend using the lovely Burford Brown hen's eggs.  The colour is amazing in these eggs and would look terrific against all the beautiful colours of the Frittata.

Hubby served the Frittata alongside a few of the leftover watercress & spinach leaves, dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette and with some gorgeous mozzarella (a good cheese for the A-I diet) torn over the top.  So simple, yet quite amazingly good for you.

KING PRAWN FRITTATA  (serves 3)

Ingredients :


10 spears of asparagus cut into 1cm lengths
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled & roughly diced
1 red pepper cut into 1cm diamonds
1 rasher streaky bacon sliced very finely
3 large mushrooms, diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
250g King Prawns, bisected lengthways (reserving 6 prawns for garnish)
100g frozen peas, defrosted
4 large or 5 medium eggs
1 tbsp milk
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

a small handful of baby spinach, rocket and watercress.

Method :

1.  In a small pan, blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for 3 minutes before refreshing in a bowl of iced water.  Set aside.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a large flat bottomed frying pan and gently cook the onion, red pepper and bacon until soft.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender.  Stir in the smoked paprika and allow to cook out before adding the sliced prawns, asparagus and peas.

3.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and the milk together, with some seasoning.

4.  Turn the heat under the frying pan to maximum, before adding the beaten eggs and sprinkling with the green leaves.  Fry for two or three minutes before placing the frying pan under a hot grill to cook the top of the fritata.

5.  Remove from the grill once the surface of the fritata is golden and bubbling.  Use a small knife to open the centre of the fritata to check that no liquid egg remains.  If so, then return to the grill for 30 seconds or so until soft, but not liquid.

6.  Transfer from the pan onto a chopping board and cut into wedges.

7.  Serve with a mixed green salad with torn mozzarella pieces and a balsamic vinaigrette.

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