A Green Frittata

This week has been terribly long. It's only Wednesday and I keep thinking it's Thursday. This is partly due to the fact that I had a brilliant time last weekend at the seaside, and will be headed for Cornwall this weekend to spend a week eating fish n' chips, cream teas and frolicking on the beach. What with all this excitement, time has plodded along, shuffling it's feet.

I needed to clear the fridge out of any perishables that might be lurking. It's all too easy to chuck it into a stir-fry, but I had 8 eggs to use and that would be some seriously eggy fried rice. Instead, I decided to add them all to a frittata. Consequently, I came up with this rather green affair.

This was just as delicious warm with a salad as it was cold, stuffed in a baguette for lunch. You don't have to fry the potatoes in quite as much oil as I did, but I found this helped cook them quicker. Leftover boiled spuds work nicely too. To be honest, you can really add whatever you like or anything that needs using up - I omitted adding cheese and in hindsight, this was a bit of a mistake. You should always add cheese.

Green Frittata

Serves 4

8 free range eggs

3 small white onions

1 courgette

3 large closed cup mushrooms

A handful of parsley (I used curly, but flat is also fine)

2 large potatoes

A mugful of peas

1 clove of garlic

A sprinkle of chilli flakes

Peel the potatoes and cut into slices about the thickness of a pound coin. In a non-stick 30cm pan heat up about 2" of cooking oil, and carefully add the slices of potato. Fry until golden on each side and cooked through; about 10 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile, grate the courgette and squeeze all the water out. Put the peas in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Slice the onions finely and mince the garlic. Chop the mushrooms roughly, chop the parsley finely, and finally beat the eggs in a large bowl with plenty of salt.

Once the potato has been removed from the pan, tip out all the oil except for 3 tbsp. Fry the onions with the garlic until softened and slightly golden, then add the chilli flakes and the grated courgette. Cook on a high heat until wilted and there is no moisture left in the pan, then add the chopped mushrooms and again, fry on a high heat until there is no moisture. Drain the peas and throw them in. Turn the heat on low, add some of the egg mixture, lay the potato slices on top, and then add the rest of the egg mixture, throwing in the parsley as you go. Cook until the egg has set across the bottom (about 7 or 8 minutes) and then place under the grill until cooked through. Leave to rest for a minute and turn it out on a plate. Serve with a salad.