Veggie Frittata: loads of caramelized sweet onions, asparagus, baked with parmesan and swiss cheeses in a savory egg-sour cream filling. For a true veggied-up frittata, an optional addition of sauteed spinach, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes hit all the right notes. This frittata is a fan favorite for any brunch, lunch, linner, dinner, and even breakfast. This luscious filling is baked in a tender flaky sour cream crust to boot.
The vegetables are easily catered to specific tastes. I like the addition of sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Sometimes I will add sauteed bok choy instead of asparagus, or replace the spinach with kale. The only constant ingredients are the caramelized sweet onions, the egg-sour cream filling, and cheeses.
The original recipe called for sweet onions only! Yep, onions. A very good friend, who lives in Israel, made this for me over 25 years ago, and then she graciously gave me the recipe. I felt like royalty and I was in love at first bite. Once in a while I make it with just the caramelized sweet onions, but I do love the veggie additions.
Veggie Filling
Caramelized Sweet Onions: 3 cups chopped. If you do not have sweet onions, you can add 1 teaspoon sugar to onions during the cooking/caramelizing process.
Asparagus: About half a bunch (10 stalks, approximately). These are pan roasted by themselves in skillet, as asparagus cooks pretty darn quickly.
Spinach: Optional. I used frozen, thawed, water squeezed out (10 oz package), and re-chopped. (Package says “chopped,” I think they’re lying.) See notes in recipe for substitutions.
Artichoke Hearts: Optional. Chopped.
Sundried Tomatoes: Optional. I am a tomato fiend. Just snip or chop them up.
Pictured above: pan roasted asparagus, caramelized onions, spinach, cheeses, and sour cream mixed with the egg. Below is with the addition of artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes.
Spread the lovely savory filling into the prepared pie shell. Now, sometimes I don’t have enough sour cream in the fridge to make the crust AND the filling, so I frequently use my English Wig crust, and even Grandma’s Pie crust is delish.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 360 F, (This is not a misprint, 360 F); 350 is too cool, 375 is too hot.) Let the frittata cool about 15 to 20 minutes and serve warm. And, this holds up well if it needs to be made a couple of days in advance and stored covered in plastic wrap in the fridge. To warm it up, remove plastic wrap and place in oven at 325 F for about 20 to 30 minutes.
The frittata is easy to double and make two at one time. If saving one, let cool completely, cover tightly in plastic wrap, and store in freezer up to 4 months. (Air is the enemy in the freezer.)
Now I’m hungry; I think I only have one slice left in my fridge. I must hurry before someone else claims it as theirs.
No, if we could just activate Taste-o-Vision. Happy Baking Pie Peeps!
Veggie Frittata
Course: Maindishes, Savory8
servings30
minutes40
minutes1
hour10
minutesLoads of caramelized sweet onions, asparagus, & spinach baked with parmesan and swiss cheeses in a savory egg-sour cream filling baked in a tender flaky sour cream crust.
Ingredients
- Sour Cream Crust – Makes One 9-inch Pie Shell
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour (or substitute King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 stick cold butter (4 oz), cut into small pieces or grated
1/4 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons cup sour cream (6 tablespoons total)
2 tablespoons cold water
- Frittata Filling
1 to 2 medium to large sweet onions – chopped (3 cups)
3 tablespoons butter
10 stalks asparagus (about half a bunch), woody ends removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
10 oz package frozen spinach (thawed, extra water squeezed out, and re-chopped). optional (see substitutions in notes below)***
1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts, optional
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes, optional
8 oz. sour cream
2 eggs – beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Sour Cream Crust
- In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
- Add the cold butter pieces, and using tines of a large fork (or by hand) cut in butter until crumbly and pea-sized or smaller.
- In a small, separate bowl, stir the sour cream and water together. Pour into flour mixture all at once and stir until it becomes a dough ball. If dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water. Do not knead or over mix.
- On a floured surface, roll out dough to about a 11 inch diameter and place into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edges and crimp with fork or pattern desired. Set aside.
- Veggie Filling
- Preheat oven to 360 F. (This is not a misprint, 360 F); 350 is too cool, 375 is too hot.
- In a large deep skillet, over medium heat, caramelize chopped onions in 2 tablespoons butter until browned on edges (about 15-20 minutes), stir occasionally. Set aside in a separate bowl.
- In the same skillet (after removing onions), add remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and sauté asparagus until asparagus is just until tender, about 5 minutes (asparagus is cooks very fast). Place asparagus in bowl with onions.
- Add spinach (or kale, bok choy substitution if using). Cook and stir about 2 minutes until leaves are wilted and shrink down.
- In a large bowl, stir the sour cream and beaten eggs together, set aside.
- Stir the caramelized onions and sauteed asparagus, spinach (or kale) into the sour cream egg & cheese mixture. Divide evenly into two prepared unbaked pie shells.
- Bake 45 to 50 min @ 360 degrees. Let cool 20 to 30 minutes and serve warm.
- If making ahead, cool completely, cover in plastic wrap and store in fridge. If freezing, once completely cooled wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.
Notes
- ***Substitutions for Spinach: 3 to 4 leaves kale, spines removed, chop up leaves. Sauté with onions at the end of caramelization cooking time. OR 4 to 5 leaves of Bok choy, include the white part of stalk, chop; sauté with onions at the end of caramelization cooking time.
You wrote it correctly. I read it wrong. My apologies.
My bad. I thought it made 2 crusts. It just makes one crust. When I reread the directions it says I can double it. My mistake in reading at 6am. Jeffrey
Oh Jeffrey! Let me check that I didn’t make a mistake and say “two” somewhere. And yes, the crust is amazing, I love it.
This recipe sounds amazing. Your crust recipe will make 2 pie crusts. I am limited on freezer space. Instead of making two separate pies, can I freeze half of the dough for a future pie instead of freezing a whole pie? Thank you. Jeffrey