It’s (mostly) finally feeling like spring these days, and that has us some of us craving fresh produce and others looking forward to lazy brunches on warm summer Sundays. Bearing both in mind, I clicked around the Yankee Magazine recipe database to see if I could track down a recipe for this week’s archive challenge that would fit the bill on both fronts. The result? This tasty Tomato Basil Frittata.
Fresh Basil and Tomato Frittata Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Now, you might be thinking…”That looks like a quiche!” or “That looks like a baked omelet!” All three dishes contain eggs, but vary slightly. Omelettes are cooked on the stovetop (baked omelettes are basically frittatas), while frittatas (the Italian omelette) is often started on the stovetop, but then finished in the oven. Quiches are the richest of the bunch, baked in a pastry crust and with a rich custard filling, often made with the help of cream. All are delicious.
The background info on this frittata recipe in the Yankee database said it came from The Henry Farm Inn in Chester, Vermont (still operational today, we named it one of New England’s Best Historic Inns in 2011), and originally appeared in something called The Yankee B&B and Inn Directory. I first thought that must be a cookbook, since we’ve got quite a goldmine of comfort-style cookbooks here at Yankee — volumes like The Church Supper Cookbook (1980), Church Suppers and Potluck Dinners Cookbook (1996), and New England Innkeepers’ Cookbook (1996) — but I couldn’t find any cookbook by that name after scouring the archives room.
Finally, I stumbled across a handful of digest-sized (you guessed it) directories highlighting the many fine B&B’s and Inns of New England, all with a small sampling of recipes scattered among the listings. One volume dated back to 1995, but the rest were from the early 2000s. The Fresh Basil and Tomato Frittata was in 2003.
A peek inside the Yankee Magazine B&B Inn Directory from 2003. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Another Yankee Archives mystery solved.
The recipe itself is a snap to make and yields a delicious frittata — flavorful and hearty with a heavenly aroma. I took advantage of a Maine-supplied greenhouse-fresh tomato and supermarket basil while awaiting the ground-grown summer equivalents, and the results were divine for late April. The only head-scratcher I encountered was the amount of cheese called for, since the amounts were listed by pre-shredded weight rather than shredded volume (such as cups). The convenient pre-shredded cheese at the grocery store is often sold in 8 oz. bags and yields about 2 cups, but if you weigh and then shred at home (which I strongly recommend) you may get something a little different. I shredded my own cheese using the smallest holes on my grater and it gave me more than 2 cups, but I figured the pre-grated weight was what mattered and just went with it. When measuring semi-hard cheeses, such as cheddar or Swiss, it is generally accepted that 4 oz. equals 1 cup shredded, but if you fiddle with the amounts to suit your liking or what’s in the fridge, you should still get tasty results.
Cheese, like the pair of sweatpants I suggest wearing after eating this frittata for breakfast…and then lunch, is very forgiving.
I also opted to use my 9.5-inch deep-dish pie plate instead of the standard 9-inch plate called for, and it worked out great.
Firm and flavorful, this frittata is a winner. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
When I brought what was left of this frittata into work it was gone within minutes and earned rave reviews. The combination of the tomato and basil made it smell like a breakfast pizza, and I think we can all agree it’s hard to resist a combination like that. The cheese settled into a dense layer at the bottom with an eggy-custard layer on top that perfectly held all of the diced tomatoes and fresh basil in place for a lovely presentation.
With Mother’s Day coming up in a few weeks, this frittata (or perhaps this Baked Herb Omelette with Feta and Mushrooms or Creamy Asparagus Quiche with Shallots and Mushrooms) would make an excellent addition to a lovely brunch to honor mom, or simply to celebrate the approaching growing season. We know it’s coming!
So how about it… Omelettes? Frittata? Quiche? Which brunch dish is your favorite?
Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
