Red onion and ricotta frittata

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Francesco Mazzei uses finely sliced Tropea red onions and fresh ricotta for his Italian take on the classic frittata. If you are unable to find Tropea red onions he recommends French griotte onions or sweet white onions as a good alternative. This recipe is from Francesco Mazzei's book, Recipes from Southern Italy (Penguin Random House, November 2015).

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 4 red onions, (about 600g), preferably Tropea red onions, very finely sliced
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 12 eggs, beaten
  • 150g of pecorino
  • 20 basil leaves
  • 300g of ricotta
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • black pepper

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5
2
To begin, put the onions and oil into a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat with the sugar, vinegar and a pinch of salt
  • 4 red onions, (about 600g), preferably Tropea red onions, very finely sliced
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
3
Leave the onions to sweat until they are very soft and transparent. The vinegar will help give them a beautiful crimson colour. Remove from the pan and transfer to a large bowl to cool
4
Add the eggs, pecorino, basil and some salt and pepper to the bowl of cooked onions and whisk well. Line the frying pan (there's no need to clean) with oiled baking paper, then pour in the egg mixture
5
Crumble the ricotta over the top and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until a strand of spaghetti stuck in the centre comes out clean
6
Eat warm as your breakfast, lunch or dinner, or leave to cool to room temperature when it will be easy to slice and you can cut it into cubes or wedges to serve as an antipasto
First published in 2015

Francesco Mazzei reminds us why we fell in love with Italian food in the first place, conjuring soulful dishes that put flavour first.

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