Frittatas...once the poor man's breakfast is a cheap, hearty meal when you make it at home

My grandfather used to say that Frittata was the poor man’s breakfast in Italy where he lived as a young man that immigrated here and became the brunch of the rich and famous. Somehow, he said, he immigrated at the same time yet became neither rich nor famous.
That being what it is, we had frittata all the time for breakfast and pretended to be among the elite all the while laughing at those who paid too much for steamed or baked eggs and vegetables. Frittatas are really little more than an omelet prepared a little differently. Eggs, some veggies – use your choice of the vegetables in your fridge and pantry – and some imagination.
At home, I bake the frittata in a 350 degree oven, but here on the boat, I add a few drops of water to the skillet and put a cover over pan and steam egg mixture and get a sort of baked effect. I’ll give you the baked version because you’re probably cooking at home. Just keep in mind that you can bake it in your fry pan if you’re camping or cooking on your propane stove in the cockpit of your little boat sometime in the future.
Frittatas are great with a chunk of crusty bread slathered in butter or just plain, spiced up with some hot pepper sauce. Play around with the veggies…spinach and asparagus are really good in these. Some people like to add ricotta or cream cheese (my personal favorite is ricotta or feta, if I’m feeling my Greek heritage on a particular morning.)

Mushroom Frittata

1cup fresh sliced mushrooms
2/3cup chopped onion
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 eggs
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
8 ounces ricotta cheese.

• Sauté the first five ingredients in olive oil until soft.
• Beat eggs, add milk, salt and pepper to taste, and add to the sauted mushroom mixture
• Add the bread crumbs and ricotta.
• Pour into well greased 9 inch pie pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
  
  Vegetarian