Leek and Goat Cheese Frittata

Post date: Jul 10, 2011 4:09:49 PM

For 8 Servings:

3 - 4 leeks

12 oz. Applewood or hickory smoked bacon or 2 large portobello mushrooms*

1 T. extra virgin olive oil*

1/3 C. sauvignon blanc (or other dry white wine such as Macon-Village)

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

6 eggs

1/4 C. heavy whipping cream

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

150g (5-6 oz.) goat cheese (1 package of Chavrie brand), crumbled or Boursin (herbs and garlic)

(fresh chives, snipped for garnish)

Special Equipment:

-8" square non-stick baking pan, preferably, or 8" round non-stick cake pan or spring-form pan with removable bottom baking sheet (to catch leaks during -baking if using pan with removable bottom)

-parchment paper or non-stick olive oil cooking spray (not needed if using good non-stick pan)

For a Crowd:

7 - 8 leeks

12-24 oz. Applewood or hickory smoked bacon or 4 large portobello mushrooms* or pancetta

2 T. extra virgin olive oil*

3/4 C. sauvignon blanc (or other dry white wine)

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

12 eggs

1/2 C. heavy whipping cream

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

300g (10-11 oz.) goat cheese (2 packages of Chavrie brand), crumbled or Boursin with herbs and garlic

(fresh chives, snipped for garnish)

Special Equipment:

-two 8" square non-stick baking pans or one huge 11 - 12-1/2" spring-form cake pan with removable bottom

-baking sheet (to catch leaks during baking if using pan with removable bottom)

-parchment paper or non-stick olive oil cooking spray (unless using good non-stick pans)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Peel outer layer of leeks. Slice white - light green portion (below dark green "leaves"), crosswise, into 1/4" slices. Wash three times in a large bowl of water, separating leek "disks" into individual rings. Drain, letting water cling to leek rings, and set aside.

Slice bacon into 1" pieces. (Putting bacon in freezer for 15 minutes makes slicing easier/faster.) Heat EVOO in a large skillet. Add bacon slices and let brown lightly. If substituting portobello mushrooms for bacon, see note *(2), below. Add drained leek rings to pan and sauteé for 2-3 minutes. Add white wine and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let cook until leeks are soft and wine has cooked down. Turn off heat and let rest.

In a medium bowl or glass measure (I use a 4-cup Pyrex glass measure), combine eggs and cream. If making two frittatas, mix eggs in two different glass measures to make it easier to divide eggs between 2 pans. Beat eggs with chopsticks or a whisk to incorporate cream into eggs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Crumble half of goat cheese into egg-cream mixture and beat to distribute goat cheese.

If using pan with removable bottom, place cake pan on top of baking sheet (to catch drips and leaks). Spray both the cake pan and the baking sheet with non-stick spray unless using good non-stick pan(s). Spread leeks (and portobellos, if using) in a even layer across bottom of cake pan--pushing all the way to the edges and corners of the pan. Crumble remaining goat cheese over the leeks, making sure to distribute cheese chunks to the edges of the pan. Pour egg mixture over. Double check that all ingredients are evenly distributed throughout and to the edges of the pan(s).

Bake for 30-40 minutes until eggs are set. (Less than 30 minutes if using convection oven.) Jiggle pan to make sure center of frittata is cooked through. If unsure, test center with toothpick or skewer--it should come out clean after poking into center of frittata.

Let frittata rest for 10 minutes only for easiest pan removal. If using pan with removable bottom, remove ring from bottom of cake pan while still very warm as removal will become diffcult as frittata cools. I usually use a pair of oven mitts that protect my forearms to remove ring. Alternatively, if a flower pot (inverted) or marble wine cooler is handy, you can set pan on top and remove ring by pulling it down away from the "removable bottom"--it's really more like removable ring.

If using a cake pan without a removable bottom, run a wooden or bamboo knife along all four sides of the the pan(s) to release frittata from pan. sidesplace serving platter upside down over pan, and flip both platter and cakepan together so that frittata sits atop serving platter. After flipping, the bottom of frittata will become the top and may not look as nice as the real top because it will not be browned. If frittata looks anemic, snip fresh chives allover to make frittata look more appetizing. If using a square pan, slice frittata into triangles by first making a "X" cut from opposite corners and then making "+" sign cut to yield 8 triangles.

Frittata tastes good hot or at room temperature.

Notes:

7/10/11

For goat cheese, I like to use Chavrie brand for its taste and texture and also because it is easy to crumble the cheese within its own packaging. Invert container and peel away foil liner. Use a table knife to slice into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Lift chunks of goat cheese to combine with eggs and distribute across the leeks.

2/18/17

*The inclusion of bacon really flavors the leeks, but to make this a vegetarian dish, you can omit the bacon and still get tasty results. In a "Twist for Martha & Dennis," we substituted portobello mushrooms for the bacon and added butter, Herbes de Provence, and more extra virgin olive oil. (2/18/17)

Portobello instructions:

Remove stem of mushrooms and slice each mushroom cap in equally sized wedges--first slice into halves, then into quarters, and then proceed to slice each quarter into 3-4 wedges. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter (2 T. for crowd recipe) in sautee pan. Add sliced portobellos. Season with salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of Herbes de Provence or any combination of dried thyme/rosemary/sage (1 t. for crowd recipe). Sautee mushrooms, letting them sweat and release all of their liqiud. Keep sauteeing until mushrooms are softened and all excess moisture has been absorbed. Remove mushrooms from sautee pan. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (4 T. for crowd recipe) in same sautee pan and proceed with sauteeing and braising the leeks. After leeks are finished cooking, add mushrooms to leek mixture. Setting the cooked mushrooms aside and adding them back later will prevent dark mushroom color from "bleeding" into the leeks and making them look mucky.

11/3/18

"Falling Back with..." dinner on night of going back to standard time. Guests: Doug/Veronica, Reg/Theresa, Andrej/Zoe/Elena. Based on what was in our fridge, we substituted diced pancetta for the bacon and Boursin for the goat cheese. Made 2 squares for 9 people so had to pick up more pancetta and Boursin at Bristol Farms. Prefer Boursin with herbs and garlic but BF only had pepper and cranberry so mixed half of pepper Boursin into each batch of eggs and halved chives-garlic for crumbling over. For the first time, used snipped chives to help anemic looking flipped frittatas. Edges did not come out cleanly so next time, DNF to run wooden or bamboo knife along sides of pan before inverting.