asparagus & smoked salmon frittata

JR hates asparagus. It's honestly not one of my favorite vegetables either. While I will tolerate it as the "side vegetable" that sometimes accompanies my salmon when my mom and I dine at the seafood restaurant near her house, it's not something I would typically seek out. But when I was at my mom's a few weeks ago, we made pasta with fresh spring asparagus that was, well, pretty good. So when some showed up in our CSA box last week, I decided I'd give making something tasty out of it a go. Perhaps I could even get JR to like it...

I was thinking a pairing with eggs might work well. Initially, I was visioning something eggs benedict-like. Then I came across some delicious-looking smoked salmon at the farmers' market. Hmmm... asparagus + smoked salmon + eggs = quiche? some sort of scramble? When my mind landed on frittata, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go in.

It worked out really well. The combination of the sweet asparagus, tangy lemon and salty salmon and capers made for a very flavorful dish. My opinion of asparagus might be changing. Even JR went back for seconds. Here's what I did:

Asparagus & Smoked Salmon Frittata

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1" diagonal pieces

6 large eggs

6 oz. smoked salmon, crumbled

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. mozzarella, grated

1/4 c. parmesan, grated

capers for garnish

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions. Cook until soft. Add thyme and asparagus. Cook until asparagus is crisp tender. Remove from heat.

Turn broiler on high. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add smoked salmon, lemon juice and peel, salt, and pepper. Add asparagus and onion mixture, stirring to combine.

Put same skillet back on burner on medium. Add egg mixture. Go around the edge of the skillet with a spatula, slicing the egg mixture away from the pan and tilting it at an angle so the raw eggs run underneath to cook.

Once the eggs are mostly set, sprinkle cheese on top. Transfer to oven to finish cooking under the broiler for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

One year ago: roasted vegetable polenta

Asparagus & Smoked Salmon Frittata