Is eating only a habit we can’t get rid of or a fundamental necessity? Let’s whip up a quick fritatta and enjoy life at its fullest!

Who would ever thought that Italians can lose it? A nation where the gluten is so baked into the national pride that it is unimaginable living without it. It’s a miracle in itself that they haven’t yet found a way to inject flour directly into their veins.

It would be a terrible waste, though. All the pleasure of tasting the bland. yet pleasureful dough would be gone with centuries of pizza stretching techniques thrown out of the window.

Is eating only a habit?

It’s fascinating how much we live for our habits rather than for our real needs. Afterall we don’t really need to eat anymore if we only want to live, since medicine got so advanced as to figure out how to feed people intravenously.

Even though many people have seen eating as a waste of time, not many has embraced total parenteral nutrition as the main form of providing their body what it needs. Of course, the mere fact that such procedures could have many complications, reduced the possibility to become the latest fad, but keto was once a therapy too.

Can we live without food?

Well, keto could be fun. Once we figure out our favorites and find acceptable fillers for the rest of the days, we can carry on making it our new normal without the inconvenience of a needle poking through our skin. But not without the need of preparing our food daily.

Given our general love for food preparation though many of us wouldn’t mind a needle if that would mean less time in the kitchen and even less washing up. The same train of thoughts is what makes us click on every recipe that says fast, quick or easy, like anything in the kitchen were rocket science.

No wonder powdered foods are seeping out from the world of competitions into our increasingly competitive life. It’s much easier just to shake something up lightly and jug it up 3 times a day for full nourishment than bothering with all the nuances of cooking, let alone cleaning up after it.

Is there hope for us?

Unfortunately, plenty of us isn’t fully prepared to sign up for a full astronaut regimen and live the rest of their life eating artificially flavored liquids out of tubes. Although chocolate flavored meals sound really enticing, there is only so much our taste buds can bear without begging for some umami every now and then.

Luckily, there is real food that almost as easy to prepare as powdered food, yet it’s much closer to our heart, not to mention our taste buds. It comes as no surprise that it is Italian made, yet as mentioned before an utter bewilderment that contains no flour or in fact anything high in carbs.

What is frittata?

It may have something to do with national pride to differentiate themselves from other cousins but it’s much likely to do something with not wanting to get bothered with pie crust or the pain of pre-frying the potatoes.

Afterall, getting up in the morning can be a pain in itself so whipping up a tasty, yet filling breakfast can make or break the day. Although a bottle of protein juice is much quicker way to get over with setting up our morning blood sugar level, the little extra time needed for a breakfast frittata surely breaks equal on our taste buds.

Of course, if we have time on our hands, we can make our lives a bit more challenging and experiment with ingredients and flavors to find our perfect match. Afterall we can save something for tomorrow too.

Ingredients

5oz / 150g Bacon or Pancetta or Lardon
1 head / 200g Onion (finely diced)
1 clove Garlic (crushed)
1 cup / 60g Cheddar (shredded)
½ cup / 40g Scallion
1 cup / 230ml Milk
1 cup / 230ml Cream
8 Eggs
Salt to taste (Mind that cheddar and the bacon might be salty)

Kitchen utensils

Ø9½” / Ø24.5cm Cast iron skillet

How to make Breakfast fritatta

Dice or slice the bacon, pancetta or lardon.
On medium heat render out the fat for about 10 minutes. Move the pieces around to avoid burning down and uneven browning.
We are going to use the rendered out fat to caramelize the onions. Add the onions and saute it on high heat for about 5 -10 minutes.
Add garlic and scallion then on medium heat fry it until the garlic gets fragrant for about 2 – 5 minutes. This is the time to add optional vegetables like spinach too. It can be added frozen, in which case at least 5 -10 more minutes of frying recommended.
Beat eggs then mix in the cream and milk. If we run out of milk or cream just substitute one with the other.
Pour the eggs mixture into the pan and add the grated cheese too.
Mix everything together then fry the fritatta on medium heat until the outer rim sets slightly. Don’t fry it on high heat! We can also just put the whole thing into the oven now as we do with crustless quiche.
Place the fritatta into the middle rack of a 400°F / 200°C preheated oven and bake it until the middle sets for about 10 minutes. If we are after some fancy look, wait for the golden brown spots too.