Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata

I’m not exactly reinventing the wheel here but lately I’ve been stuck in something of a cooking rut partly determined by a drive to make sure we don’t waste food thus reducing our grocery bill and partly due to the boy becoming more and more about routine and vocalising his disgust very loudly when I try and put something new in front of him.  After repeated attempts frittata has now firmly met with his approval and it is a great vehicle for using up vegetables.  An added bonus is that it’s cheap to make, hearty and filling.  Also he currently likes broccoli but only the tender stem variety.  As a parent this makes me a) very smug and b) very poor as it costs double the amount of regular broccoli and I really shouldn’t be indulging his inclination towards fancy vegetables.

For me the key ingredient for a successful frittata is good hard goat cheese that has plenty of flavour. Choose your own combination of vegetables if kale and sweet potato aren’t your thing.  Personally I like the earthy and sweet mix.  I imagine asparagus would be pretty great at the moment and of course you could try tender stem broccoli.

Any attempt to style food photos these days goes out the window, especially when I have a small boy standing at the kitchen gate jumping up and down for his lunch.  I’m all about realism although I did make an attempt to avoid the bits of dried food stuck to our hob.

Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata

Serves 2 very generously but will stretch to 3.

I used an 8 inch skillet.

1 small sweet potato peeled and cut in to dice

2 large cavolo nero or kale leaves

1 shallot finely chopped

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

4 large eggs beaten

50g (2oz) hard goat’s cheese, grated

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat oven Gas Mark 7, 220°C, 425°F.  *I have a truely rubbish oven so you may want to keep an eye on your frittata to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Toss the diced sweet potato in the olive oil, thyme and paprika.  Place the diced sweet potato on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the potato is tender and starting to turn golden.  Meanwhile add a splash of olive oil to your skillet and gently cook the shallot for about 5 minutes.  Add the cooked sweet potato and kale and continue to cook until the kale has started to wilt, about 2 minutes.  Add the egg mixture and cook on the hob until the egg is almost set but the top is still a bit runny, about 5-10 minutes.  Sprinkle liberally with goat’s cheese and place skillet in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the frittata is golden brown and cooked through.