Pop Culture Cuisine

Now that the weather is starting to get a little cooler, my body has begun to crave all of those lovely comfort foods.  I find myself drawn to soups, casseroles, pot pies, and well things that at times might sound good, but maybe aren’t as great for the waist line.  And this week was no exception, as I was perusing a ton of recipes hoping to be drawn to a certain one for this month, I found myself constantly leaning towards lots of ooey gooey sounding treats.  However, because we are going on a 10 day culinary vacation to Orlando next week, I knew I should probably steer clear of a lot of those items.  So what’s a girl to do who wants a warm and comforting meal, but not all those dreaded calories?  I searched high and low for a dish that would meet that requirement, finally stumbling upon Ellie Krieger’s Spaghetti Frittata.  I will admit that this dish was not necessarily grabbing me due to it’s comfort food appeal, but rather the fact that I was intrigued about the idea of spaghetti and eggs together in one dish, and that was all the push I needed to try it out.  I mean that is partly what these recipes of the month are for, to determine if some of these dishes are even worth eating. 

Spaghetti Frittata

Eating Healthy in 2009. Copyright 2007 Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved.

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

—

Cook Time:

20 min

Level:

—

Serves:

6 servings, serving size 1 wedge

Ingredients

• 10 eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly into half moons
• 1 bunch fresh spinach (about 1/2 pound) washed, dried and coarsely chopped (5 cups)
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted in boiling water for 10 minutes, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti tossed with 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

In a medium bowl, separate 5 of the egg whites, discarding the yolks. Add the remaining 5 whole eggs to the bowl with the whites and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat the oil in large oven-proof, nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Add the pasta to the pan and stir to combine. Pour the eggs evenly over the pasta and vegetables. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until eggs are set on the edges but not in the middle.

Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle the top of the frittata with cheese and place under the broiler. Cooke until the top is set and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook or the eggs will become tough. Cut into 6 wedges and serve.

Per Serving:

Calories 220; Total Fat 9 g; (Sat Fat 2.5 g, Mono Fat 2 g, Poly Fat 0.75 g) ; Protein 15 g; Carb 20 g; Fiber 4 g; Cholesterol 185 mg; Sodium 540 mg

Excellent source of: Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate, Vitamin K, Manganese, Selenium

Good source of: Fiber, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium

Source

Although it might look like a million steps, it really all happens very quickly and this dish does not take long to put together at all.  The nice thing is everything is eventually assembled in one large skillet that is then placed in the oven, so you don’t need to worry about transferring the frittata once it is assembled.  One drawback I found though was trying to get all of the sautéed vegetables evenly mixed with the pasta once it is added to the mixture, so we noticed that some pieces had way more veggies than others.  However, overall this dish came out successful, which is always a nice feat.

TASTE: I am having a difficult time rating this dish in this category.  Overall, I enjoyed this dish and ate my whole portion, but I felt it was lacking.  It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t out of this world.  I also was thrown off a bit by the fact that I had eggs mixed in with my spaghetti.  So at times it felt like we were eating a baked spaghetti type dish, but then you would taste egg and it would really throw me off.  Adam did not enjoy the spinach and felt it really did not add anything to the dish and we both agreed adding sausage would likely step it up a notch.  However, if we did that, it likely would not be “as healthy” :).  I did enjoy the fact that it was only around 250 calories per serving, so you don’t feel that guilty for eating this.  So although it was edible, I am not sure I would add it to our repertoire without some “Katie” tweaking.

EASE OF PREPARATION: As I mentioned above, although it looks like it has a lot of steps, they really are just including each of the items bit by bit.  The only thing I forgot and had to do a bit last minute was reconstitute the sundried tomatoes, but that was fine because I also had the pasta cooking at the same time.  Overall, I was surprised how quickly and easily this dish came together and without stress, which is more than I can say for other dishes I have made in the past.  I also liked that since this is one dish with many components, the meal is completely ready all at the same time!

COST: To make this dish was very inexpensive and a lot of the items needed for it, you many very well already have sitting around your home.  If not, this recipe is very versatile and I am quite confident that you could sub out various ingredients that you do have and have a very similar and tasty result. 

COMPLEXITY : I sort have already touched on this, but this dish is not hard to make.  I was always under the impression that frittatas were more difficult, and many very well might be, but this one definitely is one anyone with some kitchen skill could easily pull it off.  Whether or not I enjoyed this dish, it does come out looking quite pretty and would be a lovely way to impress your friends at a dinner or brunch party quite easily!

PORTION SIZE: It said that this dish served 6, and because it was in the “healthy” category I was assuming that they would have to be 6 small pieces.  I was pleasantly surprised then when I pulled it out of the oven and cut it and saw that the pieces were pretty good size.  I ate my portion with a side of peas and was perfectly content.  Adam even seemed satisfied, which when he is ok with the portion size I know that it is reasonable.

So although I was not blown away by this dish, I think I may be repeating it in the future by switching out some of the ingredients.  I think with a few bolder flavors, this spaghetti frittata has some possibilities.  However, since I am rating the particular version of the dish I cooked, I give Ellie Krieger’s Spaghetti Frittata 3 Little Piggies.