Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Breakfast...In A Cup!

Good evening everyone! It's Tuesday and another beautiful day in the greater Des Moines metro. A person could get used to this - nice weather, good temperatures. If only we could improve on the whole 'dark too early in the evening' and really freaking cold (in the early morning) thing - we'd be golden.

Maggie took to the kitchen tonight with a very unique recipe. I'd never thought of cooking a full entree in a muffin tin before, but that's just what Maggie did this evening. I'll turn the keyboard over to her and let her share how she did it.

The Recipe: Linguine And Prosciutto Frittatas
Original Recipe Found In: Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites

What You'll Need:

1/2 Pound Linguine
7 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Mascarpone Cheese
6 Ounces Smoked Mozzarella Cheese (Diced)
1/2 Cup Asiago Cheese (Grated)
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Parsley
2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
1 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg (Grated)

Good evening everyone!  When I searched through this cookbook when I got it for my birthday this year, this recipe was one of the first that I marked down as the "Try This One" recipes.  Not only does it have several of my favorite food items (pasta and cheese,) but it uses them in a completely different way that I'm used to.  But let us begin...


Begin by boiling a pot of water, add to that a half a pound of linguine and cook 8 to 10 minutes.  After draining, use kitchen shears to cut the pasta into smaller pieces.  These pieces should be no longer than two inches and measure to about three cups (you can eyeball it, measuring is just for 'safety' purposes.)






Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a blender (or handheld mixer,) combine the eggs, milk, cream, and mascarpone.  Now, after our first try with mascarpone, I was a little hesitant to try it again.  But since it was combined to make a creamy mixture and a base for our dish, I decided to give it one more shot.  


Transfer this combination to a large bowl and add the cut pasta, prosciutto, mozzarella and Asiago cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Stir until all these ingredients are well combined.






Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable spray.  Fill each cup with the frittata mixture until they are almost filled to the top.  If you find that you need more muffin cups, as I did, feel free to spray another tin.  Place in oven and bake until cooked through, 35 minutes.  






Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from tin.  Serve and enjoy!


The End Result:





I am actually surprised with the result of this one...and by surprised, I mean I didn't screw up or it didn't end up tasting horribly.  The cheeses blended so well together once they got into their designated cup.  The flavor of the prosciutto was well pronounced, but all the flavors worked so well that it complemented our cured ham.  All in all, it was probably one of the better recipes I've made..and for that, I'm very pleased.   




Thank you Maggie. Tonight's dish was essentially breakfast - in a cup! Ham, eggs, cheese, it was like a omelet muffin. Even more important, it was delicious. A great dish from the Mrs. this evening.

That's all we have for you this evening. Stop back tomorrow evening to see what I'm cooking for our last recipe of the week (the week goes by fast when you start cooking on Monday!) Until then,

~Cheers

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