A sweet potato crust is laced with turmeric, then layered with spinach, cheese, topped with whisked fresh spring eggs, and baked until golden brown. It’s like spring time in a pan. The turmeric and sweet potato almost give off a fruity flavor, that works surprisingly well with the eggs. The earthy tones of the spinach are off set by the crust, and the custardy eggs give the perfect consistency.
This is a perfect springtime dish as the chickens have started to lay spring eggs again. Those real eggs that only come from chickens that live a farm life. The yolks have a almost saffron color in them, there is absolutely no comparison to the eggs you buy in the store. I am lucky enough to have access to farm fresh eggs. I wanted to harness and enhance those fresh eggs, create a dish that showcased the coming of spring though a fresh and light egg dish.
The idea of baking eggs in a rustic cast iron skillet sounded like a meal worthy of a morning at a cabin in the woods, with vases of fresh blooming cherry blossoms gracing the dining room table. This frittata has spring written all over it.
The first, and only, time I had a frittata before was on an airplane headed to Ireland. I loved the idea of baking eggs that wasn’t a quiche. But as you can imagine, the “frittata” that the flight attendant tossed onto my tray table was anything but appealing. What came out of my kitchen was much different experience then my first encounter with a frittata, rather then a slimy, prepackaged, flavorless dinner, we have here a complex mixture of flavors and ingredients.
There are minimum dishes involved in this recipe, and it would be very easy to make 2 or even 3 of these. This would be a superb dish for entertaining at breakfast or accompanied by a green salad at brunch. The unexpected flavor combinations are divine, everything works in this recipe. The great thing about frittata is that you can add almost anything. Toss is some chopped ham to make it a little heartier, or leftover roast veggies would be great here as well. Frittatas are practically begging to be improvised.
- 2 cups shredded sweet potato
- ¾ cup havarti cheese, shredded
- 2 handfuls baby spinach (washed and dried)
- ½ onion, peeled and sliced
- 6 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- salt
- pepper
- a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese
- Heat the oven to 450 F.
- Beat the eggs, some salt, and milk in a small bowl until well combine, set aside.
- Sauté the onion, sweet potato, thyme, and turmeric in the olive oil over medium heat in a 10” cast iron skillet. Cook until the sweet potato is starting to become tender, about 4 minutes.
- Pat down the cooked sweet potato on the bottom of the pan to create the base layer, salt lightly.
- Turn down the heat to low, add the handfuls of spinach. Let the steam from the base layer cook the spinach for about 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the spinach, and then pour the eggs into the pan.Turn off the heat.
- Put the skillet in the oven, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until set, and browned in places. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.
- Serve topped with a quick grind of pepper and a toss of parmesan cheese.
My name is Madey Edlin, I am a 19 year old food blogger and photographer, and I have a cookbook coming out later this year. I live on a farm outside of Portland, Oregon. I was exposed to good olive oil at a young, and tender age, and have never been the same.I have a passion for cooking that has never died.
Curiosity and books have taught me how to cook thus far. I am highly influenced by Julia Child, Mark Bittman, Bill Granger, Chad Peterson, Michael Ruhnlman, and Ken Forkish.
I like to lightly salt things as I cook, rather then all at once at the end, it helps develop flavor. Acid is the unnamed champion of cooking. As stated before, I am a firm believer in good olive oil, and butter, you can never ever have too much butter. I am not a vegetarian, vegan, nor am I gluten free or dairy free, but I do have a loving respect for healthy living. Under seasoning is a bigger problem then over seasoning. I am not a firm believer in measuring cups, unless I’m baking, then I become a little OCD about it. Follow me on my blog, Madey Edlin Blog.
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Very nice, indeed, Madey! This looks delicious and I have the ingredients on hand. I think I would like to take this to a friend who is bereaved. Do you think this is something that could be baked rather than cooked on the stovetop? (I ask this because I would like to take this dish over to my friend in a baking pan of some sort. )
Madey is using the the pan to fry up the sweet potatoes for the crust before it goes into the oven, so I am not sure how it would work to transfer it over to a pan (maybe it would work?). You could try making a quiche too!
This looks delicious! Am I correct in assuming the cheese is layered on between steps 5 and 6? Does it need to cook for awhile to let the cheese melt some, or do I pour the egg on immediately? Can’t wait to make it!
I will send your question over to Madey right away!
So sorry for that err!
You are correct. Just sprinkle the cheese over the spinach later before pouring the eggs into the pan. There is no need to melt the cheese before adding the eggs. It melts together nicely when it bakes.
Sorry about that! 🙂
This looks great and couldn’t be more timely as I have some sweet potatoes I was just wondering what to do with. Always have spinach 🙂 Thanks for the great idea. This will be our Sunday breakfast to fuel us for our 90 minute triathalon bike training session!
Pinned. I love your little description about cooking and found myself saying, yes, YES! Acid is champion, salt throughout the process… Will check out your blog 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe!! You saved the night when I didn’t have any idea what to make for dinner! I used some red kale from our garden instead of spinach, and it tasted great!
YUM! I made this for dinner tonight and my husband raved about it. I was able to use up several items that were about to expire. I used chopped kale instead of spinach. I used goat cheese and shredded cheddar instead of havarti. Finally, I added 3 slices of prosciutto on top of the cheese that I needed to use. It was fabulous and very versatile. We loved the sweet potato, onion, thyme and turmeric layer. Thanks for a great recipe!
I have been overrun by eggs, milk and spinach here! perfect timing for a yummy recipe. My children loved it and asked for seconds!
Hello! I’m looking to make this recipe over the weekend for Easter brunch (yay!) The only issue is that I don’t have a cast iron skillet 🙁 Should I substitute with any other oven safe pan? Or I do have a ceramic dish, like a dutch oven.
Thanks for the help!!
I really liked the idea of this, but my sweet potato “crust” was mush. Next time I will try baking the sweet potato layer alone for a bit before adding the filling ingredients. Good flavors together, though. I may try using leftover mashed sweets instead of going through the process of shredding the raw potato since it turned out the same texture in the end anyway. Thank you for a nice recipe.
Can you tell me what the nutritional breakdown is for this recipe. I cook for my step father who is ill and we have to count his calories and report them to his doctor. Thanks
This is currently in the oven. I was giving the directions the benefit of the doubt but…when do eggs in a frittata ever cook that fast?! 10 minutes and it is still soupy. will keep you posted. Love, Love Love the ingredients!
after 30 minutes this was puffy and perfectly done.
following up. the ‘crust’ is brown and mushy. now I see someone else mentioned that earlier.