Jeremy Vincent’s chorizo and corn frittata recipe

There are plenty of different ways you can cook eggs, but this week’s new recipe is a great option for three reasons — it’s quick, easy and very tasty.

WE’RE a fussy lot when it comes to eggs. Free-range versus caged; brown shell versus white; yolks that aren’t quite as yellow as we’d like them to be.

They are certainly some of the most common ingredients available and they come in handy in all stages of eating during the day, be it breakfast, lunch on dinner, and a few places in between.

I’ve been using them a lot as a fallback for many of my COVID-19 lockdown meals.

One of the best ways to stretch an egg is a frittata, a close relative of the omelette, in which the eggs are lightly beaten, poured into the pan with some sort of filler, and cooked until one side is done and the other is firm. The frittata is then often (though not always) flipped and cooked until the other side is done too. Quick, easy and very tasty.

Frittata can be eaten either hot or cold. Cut into thin wedges they make excellent appetisers. They are also great picnic foods, and are perfect for light meals, say with a tossed salad.

CHORIZO & CORN FRITTATA

THIS frittata is great for a snack any time, although when I last made it, it came in handy as a nibble to accompany drinks before a casual dinner party. The spicy chorizo sausage gives the filling a real kick. If you prefer something plainer, try an old-fashioned Italian sausage, with filling a little chunkier than the standard snag you’d put on the barbie.

Chorizo and corn fritatta cooked by Jeremy Vincent for Country Living. Picture: DANNIKA BONSER

Serves 4

8 extra large eggs

2 tbsp milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

250g chorizo or Italian sausage, cooked in a little oil

1 cup cooked corn kernels

60g tasty cheese, sliced and cut into thin strips

Whisk the eggs vigorously. Mix in the seasonings and the milk.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).

Arrange the cooked sausage in the base of a buttered ovenproof pie dish.

Sprinkle the corn kernels evenly over the sausage and arrange the strips of cheese on top.

Carefully pour in the egg mixture, trying not to disturb the filling ingredients.

Transfer the pie dish to the heated oven. Cook for 20-30 minutes (less if you like runny eggs) until puffed and golden.

Cool slightly before up-ending on a serving plate. Serve with green salad.

EGG FACTS

COLOUR: Egg shell and yolk colour may vary, but colour has nothing to do with egg quality, flavour, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness.

SHELL: The colour comes from pigments in the outer layer of the shell and may range in various breeds from white to deep brown. The breed of hen determines the colour of the shell. Breeds with white feathers and earlobes lay white eggs; breeds with red feathers and earlobes lay brown eggs.

WHITE: Egg albumen in raw eggs is opalescent and does not appear white until it is beaten or cooked. Cloudiness of the raw white is due to the presence of carbon dioxide that has not had time to escape through the shell and thus indicates a very fresh egg.

YOLK: Yolk colour depends on the diet of the hen. If she gets plenty of yellow-orange plant pigments, they will be deposited in the yolk. Hens fed mashes containing yellow corn and alfalfa meal lay eggs with medium yellow yolks, while those eating wheat or barley yield lighter-coloured yolks.

CAN I KEEP EGGS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE?

EGGS are a perishable food and should be stored in their carton in the refrigerator. For optimum quality, eggs should be used up before their “use by” date expires. For every hour eggs are kept at room temperature, they age an entire day.

RAW, OR HARD-BOILED EGG?

If you hold up two eggs and one is hard-boiled and the other is raw, you might wonder how to know which is which. A simple test will reveal the answer. Spin them carefully on a countertop. The hard-boiled one spins and the raw one doesn’t. This is because the hard-boiled egg is solid so everything spins in one direction, while the inside of the raw egg sloshes in different directions and therefore doesn’t allow it to spin. Try it and see for yourself.

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