One thing that always stumps me when planning a meal is the first course. I’m not talking about during the week, when I’m aiming at one course that will serve all purposes. But on the weekends when I’m inviting people over and multi-course is the thing.
Pasta is an obvious primo here in Italy. But not only does that often involve last minute fussiness (a no no in my book) but it’s also often just a bit too much food to follow up with a meaty main.
Also, there’s that whole no carbs thing we’ve been doing all month.
So on Saturday, rather than think primo, I started channeling the whole concept of antipasto. Like it’s name, it means ‘before the meal.’ Back in the day all self respecting Roman trattorie would have a great quantity of colorful antipasti on display: grilled peppers, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, olives, various salads. But one of the main stays of any antipasto spread was always the frittata.
But since I was having a dinner party I decided to fancy things up. A plain old frittata just seemed, well, too plain and old.
So to the usual eggy base I added a hefty does of shredded fontina (fancy!) and quite a bit of heavy cream (really fancy!) To pretend it was somewhat healthy I also included some steamed broccoli.
Since I wanted it to be luscious and rich, I decided not to cook it on top of the stove, but baked it in a pretty slow oven, in a pretty little dish, so that the custard became truly custardy.
Once cooked, I let it rest for about 20 minutes so the cheese had time to set and I had time to make a (fancy!) radicchio salad to serve with it.
I ended up making way too much. Which was ok. Because as it turns out, my fancy Saturday night antipasto is the perfect Sunday morning breakfast too. 
Cheese and Broccoli Crustless Tart
6 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded fontina cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli
butter
Preheat oven to 160c/ 320F
Wash and divide the broccoli into small florets. Steam until just done. Don’t let them get all mushy. Take off of heat, lay on plate and stick them in the fridge to stop them from cooking and keep them green (I hate plunging broccoli into a cold water bath, since this just makes them all wet)
Break eggs into a bowl and add cream and salt. Stir with fork until mixed. Add cheese and mix. Add broccoli and stir gently
Butter a 8 inch pie dish or square pan and gently pour in the egg mixture. Make sure the broccoli is evenly distributed.
Place in middle rack of oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until well set and beginning to brown.
Take out and let rest for about 15 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve, along side a salad. 
I love this! Will you celebrate on March 1st with a bowl of pasta or a lovely piece of bread?
It sounds wonderful to me! I especially like the left over part. And I am with you on the no last minute fussiness for dinner parties. As Much as I hate being in the kitchen away from my guests, I dislike it even more when my host or hostess (or worse, both of them) are in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on some Caremesque creation.
One of my go-to dishes when I am going no-carb (which I am doing in anticipation of a week in Positano in June). Also a great way for me to use up leftover bits of veggies and cheese! Thanks for the reminder E!!
Oh….I made a version of this just last night (the end of a VERY long weekend which my partner, Herve, spent with corporate bankers and pharmaceutical executives, and I spent with paperwork/deadlines here at home).
I’d like to say that my version of your cheesy-brocolli-eggy-custardy-thing resulted from my having a flight of inpiration on sunday night. Actually?…it came about when I realized that (despite what I’d assumed and consequent upon my not having gone to the grocery store in a week) NO….I didn’t have a pre-made piecrust….and NO, I didn’t want to make one, myself….and NO,turns out we HAD eaten the rest of the chicken….and, NO, we didn’t actually have _______ (fill in anything I normally turn to on such nights).
We did have some eggs, some cheese, some fairly good brocolli, some onions,and a small portion of ham I’d actually put aside to use as dog treats when adminstering their worst-tasting pills (trust me; I don’t feed my dogs ham on a regular basis).
The final product was very good and very satsifying at the end of an all-too-long, “we didn’t even GET a weekend”, rainy, & cold weekend.
Sincerely,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Oh, yum. Frittata is one of the first antipasti I learned how to make — with loads of grated parmesan and courgette blossoms. Love that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and I have!).
Sounds wonderful – and I can see how easy you could change it up with other vegetables, spinach, arugula, artichokes. Always looking for a different first course – thanks!