26 Sep Tasty picnic or lunchbox frittata

This is ideal holiday picnic or lunchbox fare.

You can customise this recipe to your heart’s content. Almost any cooked vegetable can go in, from spring broccoli through summer peas, beans and courgettes (zucchinis) to winter roots, and it can be enhanced with chopped herbs.

For babies: Wedges or chunks of the frittata are good finger food.

• 4–6 adult servings
• 350g new potatoes (leftover cooked ones are ideal)
• 1 bunch of asparagus (about 300g, or 15 stems)
• 7 medium eggs
• 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
• 2 bunches of spring onions, trimmed and sliced
• 75g Cheddar or other well-flavoured hard cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt (optional)

Method

If cooking potatoes from scratch, scrub or scrape them clean and cut into chunky cubes. Put in a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until tender. If using cooked potatoes, cut into cubes. Meanwhile, snap off the woody ends of the asparagus, wash the spears, then cut into roughly 3cm pieces. Add to the potato pan for the last 3–4 minutes. Drain the veg well.

Lightly beat the eggs together and season them if you like.

Preheat your grill to medium-high.

Heat the oil in a 25–28cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the spring onions and fry gently for about 5 minutes, until soft and wilted. Add the potato cubes and asparagus and stir with the onions. Make sure the ingredients are distributed evenly around the pan.

Now pour in the beaten eggs. Don’t move the egg around, just keep the pan over a medium heat and let it set slowly.

After around 5 minutes, the base of the frittata will be set but the top will still be wet.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top, then put the frittata under the grill for 3–5 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on top. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing (in the pan or out) and serving. Best warm or cold, not hot.

This is an edited extract from River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cookbook by Nikki Duffy
published by Bloomsbury, Hardback RRP $29.99.