Lovin' Life: Spinach Bacon & Onion Frittata

Yesterday I woke up feeling ambitious! I had raided my mother's recipe box and was inspired to make several recipes.. I wanted to make my mother's dilly bread, some salad dressing (to go with a garden salad), and also a quiche. As the day went on I still had not been to the grocery store to buy ingredients. The only thing I had as far as the quiche was concerned was cooked bacon.

I went to work out with my daughter when she got out of school and then went to the store and then started working on the bread and the salad dressing. I took pictures... I blogged... I watered plants... but before I knew it I looked up and it was 7 pm and I still had not started the quiche. The way I make a quiche normally requires at least an hour of cooking time if not longer. I like to cook it on a low temp for a long time. Well, that was out of the question! But it was part of my overall dinner plan so I had to hurry.
I decided instead to make a frittata. So here's a frittata for ya!

I knew the main ingredient was going to be bacon. When I cook bacon I like to go ahead and cook the entire package. You all know it makes your whole house smell like bacon and if I'm going to cook it I have to get it over with. Sometimes I'll even haul my skillet to the grill and cook it outside to avoid the scent of bacon in the house. So, I had bacon already cooked and ready!

This recipe also needs an onion (don't dream of leaving it out)

And fresh spinach

I took about 3 handfuls of fresh spinach and pulled the stems off and gave them a rinse and a quick rough chop just to ensure the spinach would be bite sized.

Use a pan that you can take from stove top to oven. I used my Le Creuset braising pan. It was overkill really, I could've fed an army with all of the frittata I had! But that's how I roll...

Add a little bit of olive oil and a tsp of butter

add the onion and saute for a minute or two then dump in the bacon and spinach. I tossed it and made sure that it was blended. add salt and pepper

Turn off the heat.

I didn't want to completely wilt the spinach. It will continue to cook in the oven.

Add your cheese. Just set it on top of your veggies already in the pan. You don't want to stir it or it will all stick to the bottom. I used Swiss but you can use any kind you want. Monterrey Jack would have been yummy too. Or pepper jack... oh yeah...

Use 8-12 eggs mixed with a cup of milk or cream and pour over cheese.

Place in an oven that's been preheated to 350 degrees.

I didn't pay attention to how long I cooked it... I'd guess it took about 25 minutes. I looked to make sure it wasn't wobbly and then to make sure it was cooked I inserted a thermometer. It registered 120 so I knew it was done. If it's browning too fast you can cover it and if you'd like it to brown more you just uncover it for a little bit.

This frittata puffed up pretty big and then deflated when we took it out.