Creamy Pasta Frittata with Bacon, Asparagus and Goat Cheese
Delicious on its own, this quiche-frittata hybrid is even better drizzled with a good quality balsamic vinegar.
Any of the pasta, bacon or asparagus can be made in advance and leftovers used, in which case note that you should reserve the bacon grease after cooking the bacon. The instructions assume that you are making all of the components for this dish.
If you are adapting or substituting in this dish, I highly recommend adding the bacon and green onions close to last. The green onions so they do not cook much, and the bacon so that it is only partially covered by the eggs, and therefore stays crispier.
Ingredients
- 3 oz dried pasta, cooked in salted boiling water
- about 10 oz untrimmed asparagus, bottom ends trimmed, roasted in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 T Balsamic vinegar, divided (basic, inexpensive balsamic is what you want here)
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and roughly chopped, such as Hatfield Quality Meats Cherrywood Smoked Extra Thick Cut Triple Smoked Bacon
- 3/4 cup water
- 8 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
- 1-2 T reserved bacon grease
- 3 green onions, chopped, whites and greens separated
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- Good quality Aceto Balsamico for drizzling
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 450 F.
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Begin by starting the water boiling for the pasta. While the pasta cooks, begin the asparagus. When the pasta is done, rinse briefly with cold water to prevent sticking.
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Clean the asparagus and break off the bottom ends. Gently pat dry, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Roast the asparagus until it is browned and tender. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of inexpensive balsamic vinegar. Let it cool for a minute or 2, and then remove to a cutting board and cut into bite sized pieces.
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When the asparagus is done, lower the oven temperature to 350 F.
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While the pasta is cooking and the asparagus is roasting, fry the bacon in batches in a cast iron (enameled is fine) 12-inch skillet. Periodically drain the pan of bacon grease and reserve the grease in a small bowl.
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When the bacon is done, add 3/4 cup water and 1-2 tablespoons inexpensive balsamic vinegar to the pan to deglaze it and scrape up all of the yummy bacon bits. Let the water boil off.
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When the water is mostly evaporated, add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt. Add a teaspoon or 2 of bacon grease. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are cooked.
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Toward the end, add the chopped whites of the green onions to the mushrooms and fry them a bit.
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While the mushrooms are cooking, place the eggs and cream in a deep bowl. I used the whisk attachment of an immersion blender; whatever you use, vigorously whisk the eggs and cream until they have lightened and thickened a bit. Whisk in a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.
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When the mushrooms are finishing cooking, use a heat-proof brush to brush bacon grease around the sides of the skillet. Add a tad more grease to the pan if the mushrooms seem dry.
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Spread the cooked pasta over the mushrooms.
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Sprinkle the roasted asparagus evenly over the pasta.
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Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese evenly over the asparagus.
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Sprinkle the chopped bacon over the asparagus and goat cheese evenly.
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Sprinkle 2/3 of the remaining chopped green onions over the bacon, and then pour the whisked eggs and cream over everything.
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Sprinkle the frittata with flaky sea salt and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the eggs are set, the edges are puffy and coming away from the edges of the pan, and a knife inserted into the center of the frittata comes out mostly clean (try to avoid the goat cheese blobs).
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Sprinkle the remaining green onions over the frittata.
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Let the frittata set for 5 minutes before slicing.
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Drizzle with a high quality Aceto Balsamico if desired.