what i made for dinner :: zucchini frittata

many garden-blessed families usually encounter a problem during the summer :: what to do with the dearth of zucchini. thankfully (?) we are not one of those families. honestly, i'm not a fan of zucchini for the most part. i never request that my husband plant it in our garden, and if anyone tries to give us unload some on us, i politely decline.

but, on occasion, i get the urge to cook zucchini ... okay, okay, i admit it, i actually want to use my hand-me-down julienne slicer.

i picked up a few zucchini at the farmers market this week with the notion of whipping up an easy and quick frittata. i scanned a few recipes online and then got to work.

ingredients ::

• 3 medium zucchini, julienned (you can definitely use more)
• 1 small onion (we felt like more onion would've been good --> maybe bump it up to a medium onion? even a large one?)
• 1 clove garlic
• basil chiffonade (i used about 8 medium leaves, but use as much, or as little, as you like)
• 5 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 8 eggs (if you like it egg-y :: ian liked it the way it was, rupert thought it could've used fewer eggs)
• 1.5 tablespoons butter
• olive oil
• salt + pepper

directions ::

1. julienne the zucchini into a bowl. sprinkle salt on it and gently toss; leave for 10 minutes to draw out the liquid.
2. in the meantime chop the onion and mince the garlic. in a separate bowl whisk the eggs with salt + pepper, the basil, and 4 tablespoons of the parmesan.
3. start sauteing the onion and garlic on medium high heat. here's the most important part :: take handfuls of the zucchini and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. i just dropped the zucchini directly into the pan after i squeezed it, and did that a few times until i got through all of the zucchini. turn the heat up to high and saute until just before caramelization begins but there's no liquid coming out of the vegetables. transfer the vegetables into the bowl you used for the zucchini. cool for a bit. add the egg mixture to the vegetables and combine well.
4. in the same pan, heat the butter until it bubbles. pour in the egg mixture and cook over low heat, uncovered, for 18~20 minutes. the middle will still be slightly runny but the edges should be cooked and browned.
5. sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on the frittata and put it under a hot broiler (mine was set on high) for a minute. when i checked on it half of it was browned nicely but the other side wasn't, so i turned it and left it in for another 45 seconds.
6. cool slightly before serving.