Cheesy Mini Ricotta Frittatas

By Catherine Newman

Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45-50 minutes
Makes: 12 (6 servings)
Total Carbohydrates: 5 grams per serving

These are crazily good: dense and cheesy little muffin-shaped eggs that are great warm and great cold. I like to make a batch at the end of the weekend, and then have them for breakfast for a couple weekday mornings – although the truth is, they don’t last that long, because my kids also like to take them to school for lunch (sigh). Predict two of these per person as a serving size. If you’re making them for just you, feel free to… two-thirds the recipe (I was going to say “halve,” but then the 3 eggs got in my way.)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) whole-milk ricotta (Calabro is my favorite brand)
1 heaping cup grated whole-milk mozzarella (I like Polly-O or Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
3 cups chopped or baby spinach (around 6 ounces)
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill (or another herb of your choosing: cilantro, mint, basil, parsley, chives, or a lesser amount of thyme or marjoram)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 and grease the 12 wells of a standard muffin tin.

2. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until soft and browning, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, cook another minute, then add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the cheeses and stir. Add the spinach mixture, the dill, and the salt and pepper, and stir well. Season this aggressively. If you're too shy to taste it raw (fair enough), microwave a tiny bit and check for salt.

4. Divide the mixture in the muffin cups (I use an ice cream scoop, but a 1/3-cup measure would work well), and bake 15-20 minutes until puffed, deeply golden, and set. Eat right away or refrigerate – or try a little of both.

About Catherine

Catherine loves to write about food and feeding people. In addition to her recipe and parenting blog Ben & Birdy (which has about 15,000 weekly readers), she edits the ChopChop series of mission-driven cooking magazines. This kids’ cooking magazine won the James Beard Publication of the Year award in 2013 – the first non-profit ever to win it – and a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. Last year they started the WIC version of the magazine for families enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and are currently developing Seasoned, their senior version, commissioned by the AARP. They distribute over a million magazines annually, through paid subscriptions, doctor’s offices, schools, and hospitals. Their mission started with obesity as its explicit focus – and has shifted, over the years, to a more holistic one, with health and happiness at its core. That’s the same vibe Catherine brings to the diaTribe column.

[Photo Credit: Catherine Newman]