Green Tomato Frittata

I got a little crazy at the farmers' market last weekend and picked up 3 pounds of green tomatoes.  Alex shook his head at me, but I love green tomatoes.  I have only recently discovered all of the wonderful things that you can do with green tomatoes instead of just making more fried green tomatoes.  Who knew you could pickle green tomatoes, or make baked goods with green tomatoes?  I am really tempted to make a green tomato pie as well (like this one from honey & jam), but that would involve making pie and we all know my feelings on doing that at home.  Given the number of green tomatoes we found ourselves with I started fishing around for more green tomato recipes and ideas.  Once I saw a green tomato frittata on the NY Times I knew I was going to give that a try.  But the NY Times recipe was a little more labor intensive than I was really aiming for - it involved frying half of the green tomatoes and peel and dicing the others - so I decided to ignore that recipe and just make a really basic frittata.  I have to say that this recipe highlighted the tart flavor of the tomatoes themselves far more than any other green tomato recipe we have made.  I thought the little bursts of tart green tomato were fabulous with the rich egg-y frittata.  If you served this frittata with a nice little green salad, croissants and some fruit, this could be the unique centerpoint of a lovely brunch.

P.S.  I am a little behind on posts again due to work, but I have a number that should be coming in the next few days...  So stay tuned.

Recipe after the jump!



Green Tomato Frittata

INGREDIENTS:
2 small green tomatoes, roughly chopped
s&p
1 leek, white and pale green parts only, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced and well-rinsed
8 large eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or any other cheese that suits you)
1 tbsp freshly grated chives
1/2 cup evoo

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Sprinkle chopped tomatoes generously with salt.  Let drain in a colander for 20 minutes.  Rinse, pat dry and set aside.

Heat evoo in a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof pan over moderately high heat.  Add leeks and saute, stirring occasionally, until leeks begin to soften, about 1-2 minutes.  Add tomatoes.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes and leeks are very soft and both have begun to turn golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat together eggs, cheese and chives in a bowl.  Season with s&p.  Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the tomatoes and cook until the mixture has begun to set, about 4 minutes.  While the egg mixture is setting you want to use spatula to run around the sides of the pan and pull the egg away, so that the raw egg mixture can seek on in there.

Place the pan in the oven and cook until eggs are just set and frittata is just cooked through, about 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven, slice into wedges and serve.