Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Frittata

I woke up this morning to an almost unbearably dreary, rainy day.  It's the type of day that just makes you want to curl up on the couch in your pajamas with a nice steaming mug of hot tea (or hot chocolate) and a nice book to read.  And never venture outside.  On days like these, a bowl of cereal just doesn't cut it.  I seriously considered making homemade buttermilk biscuits, but somehow I just wasn't feeling it.  Then it occurred to me that I had some amazing Gaspe and Irish organic smoked salmon from Russ & Daughters sitting in the fridge.  Thus this smoked salmon frittata recipe was born.

I went through the fridge and started pulling out things for my frittata - eggs, creme fraiche, goat cheese, herbs, scallions, and the Irish salmon.  I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of adding cream cheese to a frittata, which is what most smoked salmon frittata recipes calls for, was just very strange to me.  I am a big proponent of cream cheese in frosting, on bagels, and in cheesecake, but somehow I cannot see using it in a frittata.  It's a quirk of mine that certain ingredients belong in certain places and it takes some pretty convincing proof before I can be swayed to believe otherwise.  Either way, I just prefer goat cheese to cream cheese anyway.  What's not to love about goat cheese?  It's creamy, tangy and just utterly delicious.  And I think it pairs incredibly well with buttery smoked salmon.

Recipe after the jump!

Smoked Salmon Frittata

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs

3 egg whites

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 scallions, both whites and greens, thinly sliced

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp fresh herbs, minced (basil, thyme, chives, or dill)

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp evoo

2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese

2 oz. thinly sliced smoked salmon, chopped

Combine eggs, egg whites, creme fraiche, scallions, lemon zest, herbs, and s&p together in a medium bowl.  Stir to combine.  Preheat broiler.  Heat a 10 inch non-stick, oven-safe saute pan over medium heat.  Add egg mixture.  Scatter crumbed goat cheese over the top of egg mixture.  Cook frittata, periodically running spatula around the edges of the frittata, lifting edges up and allowing uncooked egg mixture to run underneath.  Cook until egg is golden brown and set on the bottom, and starting to set on top, roughly 3-5 minutes.  Scatter top of frittata with smoked salmon.  Shake saute pan to allow salmon to settle into egg mixture.  Remove pan from heat and put the entire pan in the broiler.  Broil, 6 inches from heat source, until set and golden brown on top, roughly 2 minutes.

Remove pan from broiler.  Allow frittata to cool for 5 minutes, then serve.