Four Onion Frittata

Dear Devon,

Did you know that within the Allium genus, there are over 600 types of onions? Not all of them are edible or easily found. In fact, only a handful are cultivated (chives, scallions, garlic, shallots, onions, and leeks). The tasty five onion pizza at Porchetta inspired me to think about onions. The pizza isn't exactly made with five onions, but rather five types of onions. I loved this idea and borrowed it for my frittata.


Saturdays are my days for eggy breakfasts. I love soft scrambled eggs with whole grain toast. But with the taste of five onion pizza still on my mind, I tested my own multiple onion variation. My big concern was too much onion flavor, so I chose softer, sweeter onions: sweet yellow onion, leeks, shallots and scallions. This is breakfast after all. Goat cheese seemed an obvious choice. It pairs nicely with leeks and eggs- plus what is brunch without goat cheese?

I used a cast iron pan because I wanted that lovely brown, crisp edge. The size of the pan was perfect. The pan was deep enough to hold all the yummy onions and eggs but also allowed the frittata to puff slightly. The pan needed to be oven proof. I love the feeling of cooking with cast iron. It evokes a rustic, pioneer-like feeling. I felt this was fitting for this dish.


Fresh from the oven, the frittata was beautifully puffed and speckled with varying shades of green and hints of purple. It had formed a wonderful golden crust and the goat cheese was slightly burned. It looked amazing. The recipe called for eight eggs. I worried that with this many eggs, the frittata would turn out rubbery if over-cooked or too dense. Luckily, eight was the perfect number. The texture was fluffy and light, yet without losing that hearty quality of eggs and onions. I ate it piping hot with a piece of toast and some jam. Later, in the afternoon, it made a wonderful cold snack. In Italy, they make sandwiches out of fritattas and two pieces of sliced bread. It might be time for a picnic!


Four Onion Frittata

1 leek (A. ampeloprasum), chopped
1 1/2 shallots (A. oschaninii), sliced
1/2 yellow onion (A. cepa), diced
2 scallions (A. ascalonicum), sliced
8 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz goat cheese
2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare leeks by removing the root and trimming the leaves along the stalk where they turn a darker shade of green. Halve the leek along the stalk. Rotate 45 degrees and halve again. Run under some cold water to wash out all the sand. Leeks are grown in sand and can carry a lot of dirt in their leaves. Roughly chop, along with scallions, shallots and white onion.

Over medium flame, melt butter and gently saute onions in a large cast iron pan. It will seem like a lot of onion, but it cooks down. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in salt. When the onions are translucent, add the beaten eggs. Cook gently over medium low flame. The mixture will gradually firm up and the edges will get a bit crusty. Dot with lumps of goat cheese. Place the frittata in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the eggs are set. Set frittata under the broiler to get some nice brown color and some crunchiness. I won't give an estimate for broiler time. I've noticed that broilers vary vastly. Some broilers will absolutely char your food in 30 seconds (my mother's super high powered oven does that) while in others, the broiler can be on for five minutes with no effect.