The lovely green spears were in Realmont market today at reasonable prices.
I bought a kilo of straight ones for Friday dinner with our guests, arriving from the USA.
A second of less than perfect (less expensive too) specimens–asperges tordues (twisted)–to make this very simple frittata for lunch.
I have five eggs left in the pantry and a red onion. Add some cheese and seasoning–and there you have the ingredients!
Something different to do with this vegetable with a relatively short-lived season and a use for the cheaper spears with the less than perfect appearance.
- 450gms/80z asparagus spears–prepared weight–ie tough ends removed and sliced on the diagonal into smallish pieces
- 1 red onion–peeled and halved and sliced
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 5 eggs–beaten
- 2oz grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
Serves 2 to 4 people
Soften the onion in the olive oil until it begins to caramelize a little–10 to 15 minutes
Add the asparagus pieces and mix in adding some salt and a twist or two of pepper.
Cook the mix over a gentle heat until the asparagus begins to soften. I like them to retain a little bite–about 10 minutes.
Let this cool.
Then ease into the beaten egg mix.
Fold in the cheese and check the seasoning.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a 10 inch pan to hot–and fold in the egg mix and spread it evenly.
Immediately turn the heat down to the lowest and cook for 30 minutes.
There should be just a small pool of liquid left on top.
Finish it under a grill for 30 seconds.
Be careful taking the pan out of the oven–it is very hot, as I was reminded when the pan touched the side of my hand by accident–ouch!
Loosen the frittata round the edges of the pan with a fish slice or spatula and ease it out onto a favorite platter.
“High on the DING scale!” said Meredith.
Robin Ellis 
Yum! We love asparagus!! Thanks!
Yes. Absolutely delicious and so practical and easy. Thank you Robin
We love asparagus! Thanks!
Ooooo this looks yummy, going to try it at the weekend.
Looks good !👌
Hi Robin and Meredith. This looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it. The Evesham asparagus festival starts this come weekend so hopefully I can get some beautiful English spears then. Thanks as always for posting, Heidi X
I am making this one, this very weekend – for guests. Thank you, thank you!
Delicious Robin. Thank you for another easy , practical and tasty recipe. Thank you also for your interesting and such well written posts – your recent one about your cats was exceptional I thought.
Delicious , practical and healthy. Thank you Robin for yet another meal idea. Thank you also for all of your posts. I thought your recent one about all of your cats , was so cleverly written and very entertaining.
Thank you Robin. Very tasty and easy – I greatly appreciate your recipes and your lovely , interesting posts. You are such a clever and entertaining writer.
Thank you, Helen.
Another asparagus lover here! I’m definitely going to make this frittata for my husband and me. Thanks also!
I am going food shopping and this is what I will make this weekend. It looks so delicious and I love asparagus, onions and eggs . I have sweet onions so that is what I will use but maybe I will get 1 red onion so it will give it color. Can’t wait until your new book is out here in Philly. Looking forward to new recipes.
Hello Marge–good to hear from you. The new book has some new stuff but it is a mixture of the first two books with 250 photos by Meredith. So it will be familiar to you.
Looks so gorgeous on the dish! I’ve never heard of twisted asparagus — what makes them twisty?
Thanks for the post!
Nancy N in NYC
Nature, Nancy!
As soon as asparagus hits the shops in Penzance I will make this one – looks delicious. Maybe with a few tiny Jersey Royals or Cornish earlies on the side. Thank you for another great recipe which looks definitely do-able!
Happily I have all the ingredients in the fridge! So there’ll be a Robin Ellis lunch in Santa Fe, NM! (Of course there often are Robin Ellis meals here, but this one will be a new treat.) Thanks for the idea – and for your wonderful posts that are always interesting, literate and welcome
Looks quite tasty. I can’t help but notice the wide variety of dish and silverwares. Is this something you enjoy collecting? I am this way with my art and textile supplies. My latest passion is rug hooking so of course why have only one hooking tool when there are all kinds of them to collect. LOL! Anyhow, I will have to attempt a frittata. I have never had one. They look a bit like a cross between a kiesh (spelling?) And an omelet.
Make this for my dinner party last night, along with a few other dishes, and it went down a treat. Thanks.
Phew! So glad, Janet.
Hi Robin! I made a frittata this week for supper and found that by covering the pan, the frittata cooked in about half the usual time. It did not need to go into the broiler, either. The frittata tasted fine and the texture seemed good — not too moist, not too dry. –Chris
Hi Chris–it depends on the size of the pan of course.
If you use a wider pan the frittata will take less time.
It will risk being drier if the pan is larger.
Another interesting happy-making story Robin. Thank you for the effort you put into your lovely posts with pictures to enhance the story. I love them and it entertained me beautifully on my train journey to meet an old friend.
Thanks, Julia.