My Little Italian Life: A Light Summer Lunch

Summers can get hot here in Calabria, so today I decided to make a quick and easy "summer" lunch.

Zucchini frittata and veggie salad, yum. So what is a Frittata? Well, it's kind of like an omelette that you don't fold over and the ingredients are cooked into the egg. It's a very common dish here in Italy. You can make one with literally with any ingredients you want. It can be made for any meal, lunch, dinner or even breakfast (although not many Italians would make it for breakfast). Eggs aren't a big breakfast item over here. This is how i made mine:

Zucchini Frittata

What you'll need:

One zucchini sliced thin
some onion sliced thin, I used red onion.
fresh chopped herbs, I used basil , parsley and mint.
Eggs, one for each person plus one for the pan. I used four.
A hand full of grated parmisan cheese.
And some other firm cheese that melts nicely. I used Provalone.

Now, saute' the onion and Zucchini in a non stick pan with a little olive oil for about 5-10 minutes on medium high heat.

While that's happening , crack open your eggs in a bowl and mix them up with a fork, like your making scrambled eggs. Add the fresh herbs, parmesan, salt and pepper and mix some more. Now, with your fork, spread the zucchini and onions out flat in the pan, pour the egg mixture over the top, then sprinkle with your firm cheese.

Turn the heat down to medium and cover the pan. Cook for about ten minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the frittata over, now this can be tricky, I slide it onto a plate, then flip it over back into the pan, so it doesn't break up. Cook it for another ten minutes and it's done. (Of course, if you're making a bigger frittata it will need more time to cook.) Once it's done, slide it on a serving dish and it's ready!