Back to an old faithful cookbook tonight, the Good Housekeeping Step by Step Vegetarian Cookbook. I’ve never made a bad meal out of it and it has the added bonus of every single dish in it being indexed at the beginning with a colour photograph, along with plenty of colour photographs in the main sections too. It also gives you useful information such as calories, suitability for freezing and preparation and cooking time.
I originally thought this was going to be a healthyish meal, but after seeing how much cheese and butter went into it, I’ve since changed my mind. Especially as after conferring with The Meat Eater that if the recipe says it serves 2-4, does that mean we should eat all of it, he said yes, we should. But I cycled 17.3 miles today so I don’t feel too much of a pig. A small pig, maybe.
Asparagus, broad bean and parmesan frittata (serves 2-4)
175 g (6 oz) small new potatoes
225 g (8 oz) asparagus spears
225 g (8 oz) frozen broad beans, thawed
6 eggs
Salt and pepper
50 g (2 oz) vegetarian Parmesan, freshly grated
45 ml (3 tbsp) chopped mixed herbs, such as parsley, oregano and thyme
50 g (2 oz) unsalted butter
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Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 15-20 minutes until tender. Allow to cool, then slice thickly.
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Meanwhile, trim the asparagus, removing any woody parts of the stems. Place in a steamer over boiling water and cook for 12 minutes until tender. Immediately plunge into cold water to set the colour and cool completely.
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Slip the broad beans out of their waxy skins. Drain the asparagus, pat dry, then cut into short lengths. Mix with the broad beans.
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Put the eggs in a bowl with a good pinch of salt, plenty of pepper and half of the vegetarian Parmesan cheese. Beat well, then stir in the asparagus, broad beans and chopped herbs.
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Melt 40 g butter in a 25 cm (10 inch) heavy-based non-stick frying pan. When foaming, pour in the egg mixture. Turn down the heat to as low as possible. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the frittata is set but the top is still a little runny.
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Scatter the cooked sliced potato over the frittata and sprinkle with the remaining vegetarian Parmesan cheese. Dot with the rest of the butter.
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Place under a hot grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling and the top is just set. Slice the frittata onto a warmed plate and cut into wedges to serve.