Yotam Ottolenghi’s Courgette and Ciabatta Frittata
Add a new brunch favourite to your repertoire with Ottolenghi's easy courgette and ciabatta frittata bake. Light, fluffy and suitably indulgent for the weekend.
From the book
Ottolenghi SIMPLE
Ottolenghi made easy
Easy meals, packed with veg
Sensational sweet treats
Introduction
This is a regular feature at home on the weekend, when Karl and I are feeding friends. We tend to serve it with a mixed herb and leaf salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil and a few chunks of feta crumbled over. The frittata manages to be light, fluffy and comforting in a way that you can only get when you soak bread with milk and cream. Don’t waste the ciabatta crusts: they can be blitzed into fresh breadcrumbs and freeze well. This can be baked about 4 hours in advance and then warmed through for 5 minutes before serving. Ideally it should be eaten on the day it is baked, but it will keep in the fridge for 1 day; just warm through for 10 minutes.
Ingredients
| 500g | ciabatta, crusts removed, roughly torn (to give you 250g) |
| 200ml | whole milk |
| 200ml | double cream |
| 2 | large garlic cloves, crushed |
| 6 | large eggs, lightly beaten |
| ¾ tsp | ground cumin |
| 80g | Parmesan, finely grated |
| 2 | medium courgettes, coarsely grated (430g) |
| 25g | basil leaves, torn |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| salt and black pepper |
Essential kit
You will need: a 20 x 25cm baking dish.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
2. Put the ciabatta, milk and cream into a medium bowl and mix well. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes, for the bread to absorb most of the liquid.
3. Put the garlic, eggs, cumin and 50g of Parmesan into a separate large bowl with ¾ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Mix well, then add the bread and any remaining liquid, followed by the courgettes and basil. Stir gently.
4. Place a 20 x 25cm baking dish in the oven for 5 minutes, until hot. Remove from the oven, brush with the oil, and pour in the courgette mix. Even out the top, and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the last of the Parmesan evenly on top of the frittata, then bake for another 20–25 minutes, until the frittata is cooked through – a knife inserted in the centre should come out clean – and the top is golden-brown. Set aside for 5 minutes, then serve.
