Bacon, Feta, & Basil Frittata

I love breakfast food. I mean, like I could eat it for every meal and be totally happy. The Hubs on the other hand, he thinks breakfast is a turkey sandwich.

I've been trying to break him of this habit, but it's no easy task. You see, the Hubs grew up with what I like to call "food prejudice". Certain foods are simply not eaten, and others are disregarded even if they've never been tasted. He also has an annoying habit of claiming he doesn't like something, when in reality, he has no reason for this assumption. Or he doesn't like a particular item because once, many moons ago, someone (not me) made said item for him and did a bad job. 

Sometimes I think I live with a 10 year old. I love him like mad, though, I really do. 

Anyway, the Hubs is prejudiced against breakfast food for the variety of reasons named above. My mission for several years has been to prove him wrong. Slowly but surely, I've been changing his mind. We have breakfast on weekends, and he actually eats it. And enjoys it! We sometimes even have breakfast for dinner. 

My latest attempt to convert him resulted in this wickedly good fritatta, inspired by my pal Jen the Baker. 

Bacon, Basil, and Feta Frittata 

If you're wondering, the Hubs is a fan! I froze a few slices, but he ate the whole fritatta in a couple days. Since he's been telling me for years that he doesn't like eggs (?!?!?!?), this is a minor miracle. 

I love frittata because it's fancier than scrambled eggs, but really doesn't take any time at all to whip up. Plus, this can be made in advance and then frozen. The wedges thaw and heat quickly in the microwave (about 2 minutes), so this is great when guests are visiting too, or for a grab and go breakfast. 

Ready to make your own? Let's do this! 

The ingredients,
but ignore the Parmesan! 

Sorry about the Parmesan in the picture above. I thought I might use some in the dish, but it turns out the frittata didn't need it. You could always add a little if you want, but I didn't. 

To get started, slice 8 pieces of bacon into 1" pieces. Cook in a skillet until done (you can make this entire recipe in your cast iron skillet and have only one pan to cleanup!). I prefer my bacon to be less chewy and more crispy. Remove the cooked bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the grease. Why? Because everything is better with bacon and/or bacon grease.

Add a diced yellow onion to the skillet with that last tablespoon of bacon grease. Trust me peeps, this makes the onion delicious. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are tender and begin to caramelize, about 10-12 minutes. 

At this point, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 8 eggs, ½ cup half-n-half, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Once combined, stir in the bacon and onion, along with 10-12 large basil leaves cut in chiffonade style. Also add about 3 ounces of crumbled feta cheese. 

Now, if you weren't already using it, pull out your cast iron skillet (10 inch) and warm up a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom. 

Swirl the oil around so it coats the bottom of the pan. Then, simply pour the egg mixture in.

This is very important… do NOT stir. Leave your skillet over medium-low heat for 5 or 6 minutes without stirring. This gives the bottom of your frittata time to set before we move it into the oven.  

Transfer the skillet to your preheated oven, and let cook an additional 10-12 minutes. If your skillet is smaller or larger, adjust your cook time to reflect that difference. Smaller skillets will require more time, larger skillets less. 

The frittata is done when the center is set and no longer jiggles. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before slicing into wedges. 

If you'd like to freeze the wedges, the process is simple. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, then freeze in the container of your choice. To thaw and warm up, remove from the plastic wrap and cover with a damp paper towel. Heat in microwave 2-4 minutes, until hot. 

Easy peasy, right? 

The Hubs liked this frittata so much, we have plans to make it again this weekend. I'm so excited we can finally share breakfast together.

That's all for now, but I'll be back again soon. As always, the standard recipe is below. Until next time, happy cooking! 

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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The Standard Form:

Bacon, Basil, & Feta Frittata

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon, sliced into 1” pieces

1 small yellow onion, diced

10-12 large basil leaves, cut chiffonade

8 eggs

½ cup half-n-half

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

3 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Cook the bacon in a skillet until done. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of grease from the skillet. Add the diced onion to the reserved bacon fat in the skillet. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are tender and begin to caramelize, about 10-12 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, half-n-half, salt, and pepper. To this, add the cooked bacon, basil, onions, and the feta cheese.

Warm the olive oil in a 10” cast iron skillet over medium–low heat. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and let cook, without stirring, for 5 minutes, to set the bottom of the frittata. Transfer the skillet to the pre-heated oven, and cook an additional 10-12 minutes, or until the center is set. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing in wedges.

Note: This recipe freezes quite well. Wrap each individual wedge with plastic wrap, then freeze in the container of your choice. To warm, remove plastic wrap and cover with a damp paper towel. Heat in microwave 2-4 minutes, until hot.