Frittata with Courgette Flowers

This recipe was a life saver during our first summer here at Olive Hill. The ingredients were kindly provided by our Lovely Indispensable Neighbour, in the days when we lived here part time, and she had her vegetable garden on the site where we now have our vegetable garden. She "paid" her land rent in the form of delicious, freshly picked seasonal vegetables , it really was the perfect arrangement!

Nowadays, Lovely Indispensable Neighbour tends to a much smaller plot in her own garden, and hands out advice, as well as excess veggies over the garden fence. I think that her five adult offspring wish she still had the enormous plot on the side of our hill that fed all of them as well as us, but she is much happier with her smaller plot in her own flat garden!

Recipe

Serves two hungry farmers

  • A slug of good quality extra virgin olive oil

  • One large onion, finely diced

  • 3 small (ours were tiny) courgettes, finely diced - one normal sized one would suffice

  • 2 tomatoes, finely chopped

  • 6 courgette flowers, prepared as below, and chopped

  • 6 fresh, free range eggs

  • Salt and pepper to taste

In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil and add the diced onion.  Fry gently until it begins to sweat.  Add the courgette, and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.  Add the tomato, and fry for a further couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a large bowl, and prepare the courgette flowers.  Wash them thoroughly, then remove the stem, the little green leaves at the base of the flower, and the stamen.  Chop roughly, then add to the eggs, and beat the mixture gently until it is thoroughly mixed.  I like to season this mixture with salt and a little pepper.

Once the tomatoes are starting to give off their juice, pour the egg and flower mixture into the pan, and lower the heat.  As the mixture starts to thicken, pull it back from the sides, and allow further mixture to seep into the gaps you create.  Once cooked thoroughly, pop under a pre-heated grill, then once lightly browned on top, cut in two, and serve immediately.