Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, this Italian Frittata combines Italian sausage, vegetables, and two cheeses (one tangy and one melty) to make a delicious meal in under an hour!
Frittatas are one of the most deceptive weapons I have in my culinary arsenal. They look super fancy and never fail to impress, but no one needs to know that they can be easily made from almost anything you have in your pantry.
This time, I decided to riff off of a frittata I used to make when I worked in a pastry shop: an Italian frittata with Italian sausage, sautéed veggies, and double the cheese for double the flavor
Ingredients
- Eggs Whenever I write a recipe with eggs, I always use large eggs. It's an industry standard and makes writing and cooking from recipes easier. If you only have medium eggs, use the same number of eggs. If you have small eggs, use one more egg than the recipe calls for. And next time buy large eggs 😊
- Heavy Cream Yes, you can use milk. Yes, you can use non-dairy milks. Almond milk, oat milk, and coconut milk are all popular alternatives.
- Italian sausage I love the fennel flavor of Italian sausage in this frittata, but feel free to leave it out if you want to go all veggie.
- Cheese You can really use any cheese that you enjoy eating. In this instance, I am using goat cheese, for its tanginess, and mozzarella for it's excellent melting.
- Vegetables I use a combination of vegetables that won't release too much liquid when they are cooking; red bell peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, jarred marinated artichokes, and just a handful of spinach leaves. Feel free to change that up to your preference.
How do you make this?
Making a frittata is foolproof, if you follow a simple formula. My frittata formula is easy to customize, even without a detailed recipe. All you need is my perfect base to guide you! Start with 8 eggs whisked with one cup of heavy cream, add about one cup of cheese, then two cups of whatever your heart desires. You can add anything from potatoes and ham, to a medley sautéed vegetables. You can plan ahead and buy goodies in advance, or just toss in whatever deliciousness is sitting in your fridge or pantry.
Sometimes, to make things easier in the morning, I prepare all the filling ingredients the night before. That way, all I need to do in the morning is put everything in a skillet, pour in the egg mixture, and bake!
Tips for Success
- Whisk your eggs and cream very well. I may or may not have baked a few whole yolks in my day due to incomplete whisking. It was delicious, but startling to find.
- Drain your sausage well on a paper towel lined plate. Too much oil might affect the texture of your frittata.
- Avoid large amounts of water releasing vegetables, as they can also affect the texture and flavor of your frittata. One way to do that is to sauté your vegetables before adding to your eggs. I've done it with onions, spinach, mushrooms, etc. and love the flavor it adds. Also, keeping to two cups of add in total (meat and vegetables) will help keep everything in balance.
Serves 4-6 people, depending on how you slice it 😉
Craving more savoury breakfasts?
- Smoked Salmon “Everything Bagel” Frittata
- Ham and Swiss Buttermilk Biscuits
- Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
- Chorizo and Potato Tacos
Italian Frittata
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 12 oz Italian sausage, loose or removed from casing
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
- ½ cup baby spinach leaves
- 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled (you can use ricotta or even dollops of cream cheese or mascapone if you aren’t a goat cheese fan)
- 6 pieces ciliegine mozzarella (small balls), halved
- 12 grape tomatoes, halved
- Herbs, (basil, flat leaf parsley, chives) for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 10 inch cast iron pan with non-stick spray. If you don’t have a cast iron pan, you can spray a round baking dish. Just be sure to cook the ingredients in another pan and then transfer to the dish for baking.Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add heavy cream and whisk together very well. Set aside.
- Brown the Italian sausage in the cast iron pan (or any pan if using a baking dish) over medium-high heat until no more pink remains and the sausage is brown and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. In the same skillet, sauté the red bell pepper until just starting to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add the quartered artichoke hearts and allow to just get a bit of color on them, another 2 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and toss in a large handful of baby spinach leaves and stir until wilted.
- Pour the egg and cream mixture into the pan and stir to evenly distribute everything. The residual heat from the skillet will begin to cook the eggs on the bottom and sides.Top the frittata with the crumbled goat cheese, halved mozzarella balls, and sliced grape tomatoes. Don’t worry about stirring them in. The cheese will melt in and the tomatoes with caramelize on top.
- Cook in 350° oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the center is no longer jiggly. The internal temperature should be 160°f for the safe serving of eggs.Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then garnish with fresh herbs, slice into wedges, and serve. Frittatas are best served warm or at room temperature and can stay out for up to an hour, allowing for an extra lazy breakfast or brunch. Or even dinner. After that, store the frittata in wedges in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days. Allow individual servings to come to room temperature again, before microwaving for about 30 seconds.
Nutrition
The nutritional and caloric information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It does not assert or suggest that readers should or should not count calories, and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s or doctor’s counseling.
MypinchofItaly says
A very nice frittata albeit the Italian one doesn’t involved the use of heavy-cream or milk otherwise it would be an omelette, pretty different 😉
Cynthia says
We love it with a bit more creaminess ❤️ It’s something I learned cooking in a small bakery/cafe, where we sold 8 or 10 varieties of frittatas by the slice every morning!