Rating: 💋 😘
Starting this off with a confessional: people rave about French Onion Soup all the time, it seems to be a big source of bonding, but I have never had it. Not in any form, not even a Panera bread bowl. I have actually not had any kind of Panera bread bowl, French Onion or other. Perhaps this is blasphemous of me, but I can only do so much. For my first introduction to the soup, I wound up making a twist on it, in the form of this frittata. I love making eggs for any meal, and though the recipe I found branded itself as breakfast, I decided to whip up a batch and make my way through it for dinners last week.
It turned out to be more of a chore than you would expect.
I got the original recipe from this cooking site called "The Kitchn," and that turned out to be my great mistake. The timing was totally off during several steps, the recipe jumped in a way that led me to believe that they forgot something, and the onions they assured me would cook down during the nearly hour-long caramelization process never did, in fact, cook down. It made me wonder if anyone edited the recipe before posting, and why no one went back and fixed it even after it went live? It was majorly frustrating. I do not want you guys to have to deal with that so, after studying up on proper onion caramelization and comparing notes with other frittata recipes and my experience testing out this dish, I have created a new and improved French Onion Frittata recipe for you to try out. Let me know what you think!
French Onion Frittata
Serves: 6 Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 2 slices day-old bread, ripped into cubes
- 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 10 large eggs
- 1/4 cup 2% milk
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (2 oz)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
- 5 oz arugula or spinach
- salad vinaigrette of your choice
Prepare:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat until fully melted and bubbling. Add bread cubes to the pan, mixing to coat, and arranging in a single layer to cook, flipping every so often. Toast until golden-brown, about five minutes, and remove from heat. Set aside in a bowl.
- Add two more tablespoons of butter to the skillet and melt. Add onions to the skillet in handfuls, until onions are soft and see-through. Add new handfuls every 1-2 minutes until all the onion is in the pan. Add a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir every few minutes, so onions get an even coating of butter and do not stick to the pan. Keep stirring for 15-20 minutes until the onions are a nice golden color. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to evenly distribute the flavor. Transfer to a greased or foil-lined baking dish.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the last tablespoon of butter and the croutons into the baking dish, stirring to mix evenly. Pour the eggs overtop, and tilt the pan so that the eggs settle evenly. Sprinkle cheese overtop.
- Pop the skillet into the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, until the eggs are fully cooked. To test, insert a knife into the center of the frittata and make sure the knife pulls away cleanly.
- Allow frittata to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then top with chives and slice into six sections.
- Serve warm with a side salad.
*Croutons can be made in advanced and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days
*Onions can be cooked in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
* To reheat frittata, bake on a foil-lined pan in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes
This dish tasted a bit disappointing the first time around, only because the original process had been so frustrating, but that was an unfair assessment. It was surprising to have a slightly sweet dinner, but eggs and cheese are always a sure-fire winner, and this recipe throws cubes of bread into the mix. Hello? Delicious. The caramelized onions add a lovely texture, and the chives are the perfect touch. If this is anything like French Onion Soup, I see why people like it. I will need to look into trying some of that. I admit, I was confused if this counted as a light dinner or not. It was eggs and salad, so light, but then there was milk and cheese and bread involved. Hm. I think it is important to remember that this is a breakfast recipe, and having greens on the side does not technically round that up to dinner. I recommend a nice crusty bread to complete the meal. Lacking that, I was very grateful to have a chocolate stash for dessert.
I preferred this weekend's 2018 Provare to the one we had with the risotto, simply because it was a Sauvignon Blanc rather than a Chardonnay. Easy enough. It did not have quite so heavy a flavor as the Chardonnay, and I enjoyed the mild, crisp, cool glass of Sauvignon Blanc at Happy Hour on Saturday night. A sunny day filled with a socially distanced walk around the lake at the park, reading while laying out on the roof, and drinking a delicious wine during happy hour? My serotonin levels reached heights they had not seen before in 2020.
Anyway, somehow it is May and I am looking forward to warm air blowing through my window and sunny days ahead. When you're not running around like crazy, flooded with life's distractions, it is so much easier to notice and appreciate little things in life. I am loving the intoxicating, luxurious scent of the new bottle of oat blossom soap my sister and I just opened, the thick Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula* overnight moisturizer that makes me feel like I am dabbing dessert on my face, and the delicious nutella banana smoothie with cinnamon I made for a Saturday fun lunch. These might seem like silly little things, but it is really nice to find pleasure in the simple treats that life throws your way.
I hope life is treating you well and giving you some nice, positive surprises.
XX,
MK
*Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula is the only brand of lotion I have used since high school, I love it so much
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