{"id":1758,"date":"2017-07-10T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T15:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=1758"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:59:18","slug":"frittata-con-cipolle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/10\/frittata-con-cipolle\/","title":{"rendered":"Frittata con Cipolle (Frittata with Onions)"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 10, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

American chefs frequently do not understand Italian food.\u00a0 Many can produce technically excellent dishes that lack the Italian sensibility.<\/p>\n

One common error is putting in too much.\u00a0 Too much of most anything into most anything.\u00a0 To be sure, there are many restaurants headed by American chefs that serve excellent Italian food but there are far more that just don’t get it.<\/p>\n

The usual culprit is what Italians would call the First Course, Il Primo Piatto<\/em>.\u00a0 This is soup, pasta or rice that is served as a separate course before the the Second Course, Il Secondo Piatto<\/em> (usually meat, fish, or other protein), which is usually accompanied by side dishes, Contorni<\/em>, in Italian.<\/p>\n

Pasta “specials”\u009d are quite prone to this phenomenon.\u00a0 There are many otherwise excellent restaurants that think that if a little is good, more is better, when it comes to their pasta “specials.”\u00a0 Because I love pasta, if I’m at a restaurant that has a pasta special I always ask what it is.\u00a0 More often than not, I start yawning (well, not really) part way through the list of ingredients added to the pasta.\u00a0 After more than 2 or 3 main ingredients (not counting things like garlic, olive oil, and a few herbs) it’s too much.\u00a0 You don’t need shrimp, artichoke hearts, chopped tomato, diced onion, roasted peppers, capers, and<\/em> olives.\u00a0 It’s simply too much.\u00a0 The distinctiveness of the ingredients is lost.<\/p>\n

I’m ragging on pasta because that is the most common culprit at American restaurants featuring “Italian”\u009d food.\u00a0 Risotto and polenta are prone to the same phenomenon, however.\u00a0 The most common offense is that both of these dishes are turned into vehicles for butter, cream, and cheese.\u00a0 That is not what an Italian would do.\u00a0 In a typical Italian household, polenta is cornmeal, water and salt.\u00a0 That’s it.\u00a0 There’s not usually a pat of butter or a spoon of cheese in sight unless added at the table to the diner’s preference but even that is rare.\u00a0 The polenta is a foil for whatever is served with it.\u00a0 It is not meant to scream, “Look at me!”\u00a0 That doesn’t mean it isn’t supposed to, or doesn’t, taste good.\u00a0 It’s not intended to be so rich and filling that it tries to steal the spotlight or dampen one’s appetite for the rest of the meal.<\/p>\n

Unlike polenta, which is meant to accompany other dishes, risotto is meant to stand on its own as a First Course before the Second Course.\u00a0 Risotto alla Milanese is the only exception.\u00a0 Traditionally Risotto alla Milanese accompanies a veal cutlet (in Milan, of course).\u00a0 No other risotto would be served with the second course in an Italian meal.<\/p>\n

I realize that most of the time we do not eat a formal Italian meal, even in a restaurant.\u00a0 Most of us have either<\/em> what would be the first course (pasta or risotto, usually) or the second course (meat or fish plus a side dish or two), preceded by some sort of antipasto (appetizer), which literally means “before the pasta.”\u00a0 Even so a risotto that is a fat “bomb” overly laden with butter, cream and\/or cheese, might be American but it is simply not Italian in its sensibility.<\/p>\n

Frequently, the issue is clouded even more but the addition of too many ingredients to the risotto.\u00a0 Look at the asparagus risotto <\/a>from a few weeks ago.\u00a0 There are no competing flavors:\u00a0 a light broth to add some savoriness, a bit of Parmigiano Reggiano, and a dollop of butter.\u00a0 This is a classically Italian risotto.<\/p>\n

I guess I’m really beating this one.\u00a0 I clearly have strong feelings about Italian food and what passes for Italian food in America.\u00a0 Think purity of flavor and simplicity of ingredients.\u00a0 If an ingredient doesn’t support the main ingredient it shouldn’t be added.\u00a0 I believe Italian food is the original “ingredient-driven”\u009d cuisine.<\/p>\n

Ok, off my soap box an on to a recipe; one that is the essence of simplicity.<\/p>\n

I’m going to guess that most of you have not had a frittata.\u00a0 It is a fluffy but firm egg dish, usually with some sort of vegetable included.\u00a0 Sometimes a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese is added but only if it supports the vegetable that is the star of the show.<\/p>\n

Today’s frittata is onion.\u00a0 That’s it, onion.\u00a0 Plus a little olive oil and salt and pepper.\u00a0 The onion is cooked slowly until it caramelizes.\u00a0 The onion in this recipe was cooked for 50 minutes.\u00a0 You should plan on 45-50.\u00a0 It is mostly hands off, though you do need to stir every few minutes.<\/p>\n

Once the eggs are added, they are cooked slowly.\u00a0 Unlike a French omelet where the eggs are barely set and there isn’t (supposed to be) a touch of brown, a frittata is intended to be firm, slightly brown, and puffed up and airy from the cooking style.<\/p>\n

Although I have converted to making, almost exclusively, a classic Italian frittata, when I was in college I did it the way my Italian Grandmother did.\u00a0 She included a pinch of baking powder and a bit of flour.\u00a0 It was a little firmer than a classic frittata; more like a savory eggy cake.<\/p>\n

That frittata, alternating with sandwiches of butter, onion and blue cheese on homemade bread (not on the same day), constitute my lunchtime memories from my junior year in college.<\/p>\n

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Frittata con Cipolle (Frittata with Onions)<\/h2>\n
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I recommend NOT finishing the frittata under the broiler as called for by a number of food writers. First, it isn\u2019t traditional. Second, if the frittata doesn\u2019t slide out of the pan easily so that it can be flipped, you won\u2019t be able to get it out of the pan to serve it after putting it under the broiler. I like using a good quality, heavy-bottomed, non-stick pan though a well-seasoned cast iron pan would work too. It is easier to get the frittata out of the pan if it has sloping sides rather that sides that are completely vertical. You can caramelize the onions several hours in advance and then complete the frittata later.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>10 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span> 10 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>3<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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