Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced thin
1/2 pound new potatoes, sliced thin (a mandolin works best here for thin, even slicing)
Slice or two of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped (optional)
1 pound asparagus, sliced into thin rounds
Olive oil
4- 6 large eggs
1 Tbl cream, chicken stock or water
Instructions
Snap off the fibrous bottoms of the asparagus spears where they break easily when bent. Slice them horizontally into thin coins. Slice new potatoes and an onion. Feel free to vary the proportions of asparagus, potato and onion.
Cook the onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil, until it is a deep caramel color, or poach it with the potatoes in olive oil. While you can blanch the potatoes and asparagus in water until just cooked, the flavor and texture is much better when they are cooked in olive oil. You will need a cup or two of high quality fragrant oil. Heat it in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Reduce the heat and add the potatoes, stirring until they are half cooked, around 5 minutes. Stir in the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the potatoes are soft but not brown, around 10 to 15 minutes more. Put the mixture in a colander and drain thoroughly.
Set aside around a quarter cup of the oil and strain and reserve the rest in the refrigerator. It is a very flavorful cooking medium.
Sauté the asparagus in a couple of tablespoons of the reserved oil until just tender. Set aside all the frittata vegetables until they are room temperature. Everything can be prepared a day ahead up to this point.
Place the eggs, stock or cream and a couple of pinches of salt in a large mixing bowl and beat until just scrambled. Gently stir in the cooled potato, onion and asparagus. If you are using it, add the optional bacon at this point. Mash and stir the egg mixture gently with a fork to crush the potatoes just a little, and mix them well with the eggs. Let stand 10 minutes or so.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of the reserved oil in a heavy 8-inch skillet, preferably a non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron pan, until almost smoking. Turn the heat as low as possible, add the egg mixture, and cook slowly on the stovetop, until the eggs start to set around the edges. Finish in a 400°F oven, or under the broiler until the eggs are barely set.
The frittata is good hot from the oven or at room temperature.