mini frittatas with ham and sesame seeds
In these days we’ve been swimming at the Allerona village pool. The pool is not bad at all, it’s big enough to do serious swimming and the beauty is that it’s surrounded by vineyards. The only problem is that if we want to swim and have a little relax ,the only time to go is lunch time. During that hour all the children from the village go home for lunch! So for us is perfect, but obviously we don’t get to eat. So what happens is that after a long swim, taking a bit of sun and reading a few pages of a book, Nick and I start talking about what we could make for dinner. My mind began to wander about flavors, colors, cooking times and presentation of the dish … I imagined myself under the porch with a cold glass of white wine eating something delicious. This is what came out after 10 minutes of intense thinking, while sunbathing on the grass. Nick ,always skeptical ( even when it’s baking hot ,he thinks it’s going to rain, later) didn’t think much about my idea. The point is that it was very clear in my mind, an hallucination from a genuine hungry person ! But in the end it was good ,very good, and Nick agreed so much that he took the picture!
Ingredients for 6 mini frittatas
Sesame seeds
A knob of Butter
6 small baking molds
2 eggs
50 grams of feta
6 slices of ham
1 baby artichoke
A handful of parmesan
Salt and pepper
How it works:
In a bowl beat two eggs, add the diced feta cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper. Butter the molds, cover the inside with sesame seeds. Place in each mold a slice of ham, making sure it’s pressed firmly against the sesame seeds , laterally and at the base. Pour in the egg with feta mix. Cut the artichoke, clean and divide into 6 wedges. Put the artichoke clove on top of every mold, sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees.
\i wish I was down at that pool with you! I might even have to take put my toes in the English sea today, it is really hot here too. it might even get to 29o!
Hi Simona!!
It’s Nancy from your first cooking class on June 4th! I miss seeing your beautiful smile and watching you create delicious dishes. When I arrived back in Boston I tried out almost everything you taught me in the class, with great success.
But I do have a question about the recipe above, which seems to be a variation of the one you made when my brother Jim, Diane and I took the first class. You showed us how to make the zucchini filled sesame cups similar to this frittata dish. When I tried it at home mine came out with the sesame crust a bit soft, not crunchy like when you made them for us. I’m guessing that you toasted the sesame seeds before lining the mini cups and that was what I forgot to do..but you didn’t mention that in the recipe. Is that right?? I turned them upside down and put them in the oven again, and it came out okay anyway!
Another question I had was when I tried the rolled zucchini with ricotta and pinenuts, I think my ricotta was not as firm…because they too were a bit soft and didn’t hold their shape well. Was that because the ricotta I bought here is not quite as thick as what you have available in Italy? Is there a special kind to buy for this recipe??
I look forward to hearing from you….
I hope you are well and enjoying your summer!
nancy
Ciao Nancy, I’m very happy to hear from you.
Regarding the zucchini and feta recipe, sesame seeds are not cooked before. But I understand what happened to you. This can happen for two reasons: 1 the amount of butter was too much and then the sesame has become soft during cooking. Or another reason is the material of the mold. I noticed that when I use the nonstick mold the sesame stay crispy. About the ricotta, I use a mixed ricotta cheese (goat and sheep) or a Roman ricotta (sheep only). If you can not find them, the idea is to have a firm ricotta, so if this is not possible, try to decrease the evo oil within the compound. This will help. Have you bought the pasta machine? And how things go with the food/photos ?