Scott loves eggs and I decided to surprise him with a frittata, otherwise known as baked eggs with a handful of frozen spinach and some diced leftover red pepper thrown in.
I had bought extra eggs for a baking project that I didn’t get around to fast enough and needed to use up some eggs, so I cracked four into a baking dish with the spinach and peppers.
Peppers have been plentiful here since I made Hot Pepper Jelly
And being that I just happened to have about seven cups of hot pepper jelly on hand, I also stirred a few tablespoons of it into the eggs before I baked them.
The frittata received egg-cellent reviews.
There was a touch of heat from the peppers and pepper jelly, and the spinach added some texture to the dish. Serving a completely fiberless and veggieless meal for dinner isn’t the preferred method, so working a bit of greenery and veggies into the eggs was my strategy.
The frittata turned out thin, and firm enough to hold like a slice of pizza, which was popular with a certain five year old.
Care for a slice?
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Spinach and Red Pepper Frittata (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
4 eggs
2/3 cup spinach (I used one handful frozen spinach and did not thaw it first, just tossed in the frozen flakes)
1/4 cup red pepper, finely diced
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons hot pepper jelly (or try tamarind paste, tahini, sweet and sour sauce, curry paste), optional and to taste
pinch chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, onion powder, optional and to taste
1/4 cup carrots, green peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, onions, corn, (or any vegetable that needs to be used or your have on hand), optional
1/4 cup shredded cheese, optional
Preheat oven to 375F and spray a medium-sized baking dish with cooking spray. Crack four eggs into the baking dish and lightly beat them with a fork. Add all remaining ingredients and any optional ingredients and swirl them into the eggs, dispersing them evenly. Place baking dish on top of a cookie sheet if needed for stability, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, covered. If your baking dish does not have a lid, you may wish to cover it with foil so the top doesn’t burn before the eggs are cooked through. I removed the lid and baked for 5 additional minutes, uncovered, to brown the top very slightly (27 minutes covered + 5 minutes uncovered = 32 minutes total baking time) Optionally, top with cheese in the last 5 minutes of baking. Cooking times will vary based on size of baking dish and amount of vegetables used. Frittata is done when eggs are cooked through and edges are just beginning to brown and pull away slightly from the edges of the dish. Remove the frittata and slice on a cutting board, or slice directly in the baking dish, and serve immediately. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator and serve them either cold or reheated, for up to two days, using common sense. Double or triple the recipe based if desired, increasing cooking time as needed.
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This was easy and literally took me 37 seconds to prep before baking it, and I popped it in the oven about 20 minutes before I knew Scott would be home.
He walked in and took a whiff of the house and then asked, “Ohmygod are you making me eggs?!?” and I said Yes, I am.
The smile on his face and excitement in his voice made my day and reinforced just how much the man loves eggs.
I could have served eggs with sawdust and he would have been happy but he liked the frittata much better.
Do you like eggs? Favorite way to eat them?
I like baking with eggs and my favorite way to consume eggs would be in one of these.
I rarely sit down and just eat eggs. The last time I likely sat down to just a plate of eggs was probably in 2002, about 4:12 A.M., at a Waffle House in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
There’s nothing better than Waffle House eggs in the wee hours after a long night out on the town and plenty of libations. Until you hit the 24 hour Krispy Kreme drive-thru for dessert after the eggs just to make sure you get your RDA of grease. Fabulous memories.
Do you ever make breakfast foods for dinner?
Eggs for dinner and breakfast-for-dinner foods like waffles and pancakes was one of my mom’s tricks when I was growing up. Now that I’m a mom, I understand why we had breakfast-for-dinner quite frequently: Easy, cheap, quick, kids (and husbands) like it. ‘Nuff said.
Thanks for the Cookbook Giveaway entries
Nice recipes. Thank you and have a great week!
Hi Averie – I made a version of this last night with: eggs, spinach, red onion, yellow peppers and parmesean cheese. I added a bit of milk – which i think make the casserole fluffier and less “pizza slice” like – so next time I will be omitting the milk. Anyway – thanks for inspiring me – I made this and then divided it up into single servings for breakfast for the rest of the week and just tossed the tupperwares in to the fridge. I had one for breakfast this morning and felt good about it being quick and healthy! Plus, my husband hates spinach, so I don’t have to worry about him nabbing my pre-planned-healthy-breakfasts-to-go. Thanks, Averie! :o)
Yes milk will definitely fluff it up. The milk protein will cause it to rise and become fluffier and less dense so if you want it more pizza like and flat, no dairy next time. Glad that you have your own grab and go healthy breakfast option all lined up that no one is going to nab out of the fridge on you :)
Working on a menu for this week and this sounds super simple plus it would use up eggs that I have a bad habit of not finishing before they go bad. Any idea how many servings it makes?
Thanks for yet another delicious looking recipe!
That’s very individual because it’s a 4 egg recipe. Some people like 1 egg, others like 4, at a sitting. So I’d say 2 servings but it’s subjective. Enjoy!
Thanks! I’ll double it then and have enough for 4 meals. :)
I was looking at the eggs and realized later that might be the case, but I wasn’t entirely sure.
Yay well enjoy and there’s also this one, similar to it
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/02/spicy-baked-eggs-and-hash-brown-casserole.html
Man do I love you recipes! This one’s been pinned as well :-)
thanks for the pins!
this looks phenomenal! must make for dinner tonight. thanks for the recipe.
Looks devine!!
I love eggs – we seriously go through probably close to 2 dozen of them a week!! We often have breakfast for dinner, and this would be the perfect meal!
Yes, and yes. I have eggs boiling on the stove as we “speak” for the dinner: baked potatoes with cheese, boiled eggs and a salad. It is cold here, need something really warm…
We don’t divide food as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can eat soup for breakfast, and oatmeal for dinner. I can see you smiling, but that’s how we are! :)
I love that you don’t label things or box them in. People always ask me what I eat for breakfast and I usually say I don’t because I’m not hungry. I eat when I’m hungry but people get quite hung up on time of day and eating. I love to eat about midnight and most people think that’s “bad”. My stomach can’t tell time; I eat when it tells me to :)
Eggs, eggs, eggs a little elderly woman came up to my work the other day and gave me 3 dozen eggs from her farm. This couldn’t have came are a more perfect time. And here I was frying and scrambling eggs everyday. I did not know you could bake them with veggies :-)
And use any veggies, mushrooms, onions, etc you have laying around that need to be used…a great “use it up” type dish.
Wow, that looks absolutely amazing! I might even try to make this for dinner tonight. Do you know if this would work using just egg whites (the kind you can buy at the store)? If so, how many cups do you think these recipe would need?
Spinach frittatas are so good!! They’re such a great way to use up leftovers.
And without a doubt my favorite thing to do with eggs is bake :)
you are a baker extraordinaire, woman!
I featured your goodies and everyone’s been raving about them :)
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/02/valentines-day-roundup-linkup.html
My daughter shared your blog with me today … minutes after I posted a Veggie Frittata recipe on my blog! Yours looks delish!
I just saw yours…what lovely and vibrant pics. I hated these dinner-hour pictures but there was nothing I could do. Yours is gorgeous!
I love to fix eggs and frequently make either quiche or frittatas…and not just for breakfast or brunch! I feel lucky to be able to get them fresh from my brother in law or one of my co-workers. BTW, I made a small batch of hot pepper jelly with mango and am pleased with the results. Thanks for the concise but thorough directions!
Oh wow, that is so awesome! when I was typing up that post I was thinking…well, I sure hope someone makes this, because this is a lot of typing and very detailed info and knowing that even one person so far (you!) made it…makes me really happy. And you used mango in it! Nice! I actually made another batch and used orange pepper, reduced my jalepenos slightly, and like it, but I boiled it a couple minutes too long in the processing and it got pretty thick. Not bad but just thicker than my first batch. Trial and error. Mango is up next!
I haven’t sat down to a meal of eggs in years! Although, you’ve pretty much got me sold when I can eat anything like a pizza ;)
I love how easy frittatas are! This sounds like a tasty combination for sure =)
poached! over easy! soft boiled! love it all :) one of my favorite foods !
I love fritattas. I used to eat scrambled eggs with tons of veggie almost daily, but I must have burned myself out on them because I rarely eat them anymore. The cycling of my food “ruts”. I love it!
Frittatas were the first solid food my kids enjoyed. The only way they would eat anything was if it was in frittata form- spaghetti, veggies, they had every kind of frittata known to man!
Can you believe I never got into the eggs-for-finger-foods for toddlers…now that I made this, I can see it would have been a great starter food!
I love eggs, and my favourite way is soft poached in an eggs Benedict, although I love them all ways. I am having sunny side up this morning!
Yes I LOVE eggs more than most foods and eat them nearly daily. Definitely been consumed in the wee hours of the morning also, they are perfect.
Wee hours are the best time for them :)
I’ve never been a super egg fan. They’re too “eggy” LOL. But if they are cooked like this, I found that I like them better. The texture is more palatable I think. Plus all the yummy veggies you can add in. And yours look absolutely amazing.
Too eggy. Lol but I know what you mean!
I was just having a conversation last night with someone about how much we love eggs at 4 a.m. : )
My favorite way to eat eggs is poached in some kind of tomato-based sauce—and toasted bread for dipping. Even better if there’s eggplant or other veggies involved.
4am is a great time for eggs :)
I love eggs! Mostly for breakfast but I eat them for dinner too. I was just blogging about my new obssession with these farm fresh eggs I found at WF. I eat them hard boiled, scrambled, in an omlet, in burrito, as french toast. I just don’t eat them runney and I always forget about baking them. Breakfast looks amazing on your coast. I’d definitely like a slice!
Baking was easy because it was a “no babysitting” method at the stovetop. Pop ’em in the oven and do other things and not stand and watch them on the stove which was nice.
Freee-TA!-TA!
I love frittatas for dinner! Any egg concoction actually is delicious as dinner. I usually save them for nights I’m alone because I can throw whatever I need to get rid of in the produce drawer together with 2 eggs and have dinner in minutes :)
Eggs are a perfect easy and fast dinner. Now I know why my mom made so many :)
Eggs almost every day. Fried, over easy, omelette, quiche, frittata, any way but raw. Makes a nice, neutral base that goes with just about anything else hanging around the fridge or freezer.
That is so sweet of you!! True Love :)
I have never liked eggs, which made it easy to turn vegan ;)
I get more joy of cooking for him and Skylar than anything…if I can make them happy, that’s my goal. I sound like my grandma, but it’s true :)
I totally know what you mean- I LOVE cooking for others :)
No wonder he was happy! This looks perfect!
thanks, Maris!
Looks fantastic! Would love to try this recipe.
Absolutely love frittata’s and the beauty about them is that you can literally put anything in them and they’ll taste delicious. There’s just so much variety with them :)
easy and so much variety, yes, so true!
I’m not really an egg person myself but my boyfriend loves them so I should definitely make this for him if Scott’s reaction was anything to go by!
He was really happy and I think your boyf would like them, too.
Heart eggs. Hard boiled, over easy, scrambled-all amazing. Looks so yummy. And you know we brinner on the regular
LOVE this: “we brinner on the regular”
That looks so good! Im craving this for breakfast now :)
My hubby eats 4 fried eggs almost every morning along with a giant bowl of oatmeal! He also does Crossfit 5 days a week at 6 am so he is ready for food when he gets home! I always prepare eggs for him because he loves them. My boys also really enjoy eggs and they will eat them fried as fried egg/bagel sandwiches or giant breakfast burritos, scrambled eggs or omelets. I, personally, don’t eat eggs, but I love cooking them for my family! :-)
We have definitely done breakfast for dinner on many occasions. It is easy and they love it!
That frittata looks fantastic! My hubby would love it!
I love eggs. Not sure if my tummy does but my taste buds do! I love making breakfast for dinner, but then again, dinnertime is breakfast time in our house, lol. 2:30 am rock star supper eaten just a few mins ago. I love the night life. 8-)
You and D are such rock stars and keep the hours to prove it. Love it :)
I actually only like breakfast foods for dinner. Something about hot food, especially if it is sweet breakfast fare grosses me out in the morning, unless we’re talking 2am at a diner morning;)
Certain food is made for 2am. Eggs and donuts are two that come to mind for me :)
I love eggs! but it wasn’t always the case. I actually detested them for the longest time, but last year I decided to try them again and fell in love. Favourite way is scrambled. But i also like poached eggs served on steamed spinach for something a bit more fancy. We do have breakfast for dinner occasionally…usually something like eggs or french toast!
This is like scrambled eggs in a way, but baked, rather than on the stovetop. I think you’d like it!
I could eat breakfast all day – for real.
So glad you didn’t serve him sawdust — instead, a plateful of this delicious frittata :)
He agreed :)
Thanks for the photography info in that comment reply. I love Marshall’s!
This is a favorite go to dinner around here. Eggs are a fairly new discovery for me and I ADORE them. I love how versatile and quick frittatas are. I can throw anything in there to amp it up – and red peppers and spinach are a favorite! The idea of tossing some of the jelly in there is genius. And guess what we just happen to have bought this week? Red Pepper Jelly!
Thanks for the idea!
Plain eggs are so….plain. That’s good sometimes but these were crying out for a ka-ka-KICK of some pepper jelly heat!