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.
Read 
Mango cheese tart
That looks great! I actually made a similar frittata recently for appetizers. Instead of the usual pan, I used non-stick muffin molds and made ….. are you ready for this?…… tocino fritattas!! (This time you can almost feel the ‘Filipina’ grandmothers rolling in their graves.) I mixed it with some roasted bell peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro and some of my bravado ;) and voila…. no left overs! They turned out fantastic!!
Ok, I need to break out my digi-cam and document this next time.
Rico, spicy longganisa (Vigan, Lucban) are great for frittatas too. :grin:
SORRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I use chorizo for my frittata :-)
Re #3. (that’s my husband) Anton??? A-N-T-O-N-I-O nickname Speedy. Lagot ka, nagagalit yung mga bata. :twisted:
Ellen, nice idea. I have 1 last chorizo de bilbao in the fridge.
I love torta to the max that’s why when I saw your frittatas on this site I can’t help it but to try cooking this using your recipe but I hate asparagus. Ms. Connie can you suggest a replacement for this. Thanks. I will appreciate your reply.
Binky
oh wow..what a coincidence..we just had that for lunch today..had about a cup of ground chicken in the freezer and a bag of frozen veggies. that was about all i had hahaha…so torta it is. first time i tried making torta using ground chicken instead of pork or beef and it works din! for contrast i added about half a cup of raisins which were soaked in warm water…it does give a hint of sweetness to the torta. amazing what a cup of ground meat and eggs could do. tortas in my opinon are very budget friendly :lol:
Binky, try baguio beans.
looks yummy….. i’ll try it with baguio beans as well coz i dont like asparagus…. i’ll make this for our baon tonight as well…
on second thought, connie, can i just skip the baguio beans, anyway may bell pepper naman…
heheheh… lagot si daddy sa mga anak……
Onion leaves will also be nice. I made another frittata a few days ago… will post tomorrow in the other blog.
hmmm!! yummy yummy yum! =D
Question tita Con, just wondering what’s the difference if you mixed it all together and fry it, instead of frying each of the ingredients first?
They might not brown properly, Hush, because the pan would be overcrowded.
Your frittata/torta looks so good!! Torta is one the ultimate comfort foods for me that brings me back to being a kid everytime. I vary how I make my torta almost each and everytime I make it. Sometimes I use ground pork, other times ground turkey or chorizo as mentioned or even course chops of jumbo shrimp. Also the veggies vary depending what I have on hand, but zucchini, yellow squash, onions and button mushroom are some of the top veggies of choice @ our house along with the traditional addition of potatoes. Next time I make frittata/torta, I will try it with aspargus. :smile:
Hi Aloha. Comfort food describes torta well for me too. My father used to cook torta often — with potatoes, ground pork and raisins. And we would eat the torta with ketchup. Ahh… childhood. :)
Ehehehe! Yeah! Its nice to remember childhood days that you only think are breaky, lunch time, afternood tea, n dinner aside of playing.
Anyway thanks for the answer. Wish me luck for tonight’s dinner =D
Does anyone have seen Babette’s Feast movie? Its a Danish movie so its needed a subtitle to understand it. Its really nice to watch and think that there are some places that only eat fish and bread. I’ll not gonna spoil it much but its a about a chef that came fr France and stayed in a small town in Denmark that doesnt know food aside of bread, bacon, n fish. And this former chef bring the the art of different meal…Just remember Tita Con, that gives a lot of varieties and very nice presentation of food…that’s it =)
Cheers!
Well! Had dinner….And at least my hubby still had conscience not to eat the 1/4 left which would be for my lunch tomorrow. :oops: Then when he finished it, he said “Ok! I am finished. You could tell me now what is that you cooked for me.” He said that because he knew its pork…and that is the only meat he doesn’t eat…pork..And that he always forbidden to eat. Eheheh! But I am glad he enjoyed and eat haft of it! LOL
Thanks talaga Tita Con! Have a good night!
I tried spinach frittata before, no meat instead. I fried the onion and garlic in a little oil mix it with frozen spinach, bell pepper, cottage cheese and 6 eggs..seasoned with salt and pepper then bake…
I also tried bacon and potato frittata…using non-stick pan after I cooked it from the stove I browned the top in the oven.
Just want to share with you guys! Enjoy cooking!
You’re very welcome, Hush. :)
Cocoy, that’s a great meatless frittata. Personally, the only way I can enjoy meatless dishes is when there’s lots of cheese. So, the cottage cheese in your frittata will definitely do wonders. :)
Hi Ms. Con! your blog is superb! I visit it everyday and enjoy everything in it…. more power!