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

spring vegetable pasta

Asparagus pasta is what my mom and I landed on last weekend when we were deciding what to eat. With peas. And parmesan. It turns out that the folks at Bon Appetit were on the same wavelength: the cover of the May issue depicts a green veggie-packed pasta, with parmesan cleverly sprinkled from above. The Bon Appetit version is a bit richer, with cream and pancetta over linguini. Ours omits the heaviness but takes inspiration from the inclusion of lemon, which worked well to brighten the flavor of the asparagus and peas.

One word of warning - be careful not to overcook the vegetables. It's a remarkably short time period between the bright, beautiful crisp-tender green desired and the floppy, yellow signs of overcooking. Our initial plates were perfect, but by the time we went back for seconds (yes, it was that good!) the covered pasta had continued to cook the veggies slightly past their prime - still yummy, but better to err on the side of slightly underdone vs. over.

Here's what we did:

Spring Vegetable Pasta

Serves 3-4

8 oz. pasta (we used farfalle)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

1 c. frozen peas, cooked for half the time indicated

3 green onions, sliced with white and pale green parts separated from dark green

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. lemon peel, finely grated

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

a handful of fresh basil, thinly sliced

1/2 c. parmesan cheese, finely grated

Cook the pasta as directed. Drain and set aside.

Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat. Add asparagus and saute for 3 minutes. Add peas, white and light green parts of green onions, and garlic. Saute until vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add pasta, lemon peel and juice, basil, and half of the parmesan to the vegetable mixture, stirring to combine. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve sprinkled with remaining parmesan.

One year ago: caramelized apple, sage, & goat cheese salad