It’s the first school day of 2007 and we’re back to waking up at dawn and preparing the kids’ packed school lunches. My husband had some kind of amnesia and woke everybody up an hour earlier. He thought that the school bus would be coming at 6.00 a.m. when, in fact, it arrives at 7.00 a.m. That’s the way it’s been since the school year started in June until the kids went on their Christmas break on December 18th. Gee, the Christmas break lasted for only 15 days and he had forgotten. :sad: Darn, he woke me up at 5.30 a.m. Good thing he had made the coffee. Otherwise, I would have started cooking while still half-asleep. Actually, he had forgotten most of the rituals that go with school days. He forgot to put ice in the kids’ water jugs too (that’s his assignment). When the girls picked up their jugs on their way out, they shook them, didn’t hear pieces of ice inside and started complaining. Well, it was too late by that time. Tomorrow, daddy will remember to put ice in their jugs.
Perhaps, it’s a reverse case of vacation hangover…
Anyway… the kids’ packed lunch consisted of rice and a pork and vegetables frittata. Frittata is torta. And this entry contains one of two recipes about how to make torta a little more exciting and more complete by incorporating vegetables other than the usual small cubes of fried potatoes.
I cooked this dish using a 12-inch non-stick pan. While a non-stick pan is recommended, it is not absolutely essential for cooking a frittata. You may want to check out an older entry about some tips on how to cook torta with minimal mess and without risk that it will stick to the bottom of the pan.
This recipe is good for four to five persons. After packing the kids’ lunch boxes, I used some of the frittata to make a sandwich for my husband’s baon. I still have more than enough left for my solo lunch today.
Ingredients :
350 g. of ground lean pork
2 medium-sized potatoes
1 small carrot
1 green bell pepper
about 125 g. of fresh asparagus
1 onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
4 eggs
salt and pepper
3-4 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
Cooking procedure :
Peel the potatoes and carrot and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Core and dice the bell pepper.
Cut the asparagus into half-inch lengths.
Peel and chop the onion. Peel, crush and finely mince the garlic.
Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan. Pan-fry the potato and carrot cubes until done. Transfer to a plate. Add the ground pork to the pan, stirring to break up the meat. Cook until lightly browned then add the garlic and onion. Cook, stirring, for about half a minute. Add the bell pepper and asparagus and cook for about a minute. Add the cooked potatoes and carrot, season with salt and pepper, stir to blend then turn off the heat.
Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the pork-vegetable mixture to the eggs and stir well. Pour everything into the frying pan and cook, covered, over low heat until firm.
To make sure that your frittata is cooked through before turning off the heat, test by tilting the pan. If the frittata is done, you shouldn’t see any egg dripping along the sides. To be even more sure, do not remove the cover of the pan after turning off the heat. Let the frittata cook some more in the remaining heat for a few minutes before transferring to a plate and slicing.
