Ham and cheese frittata: Great for brunch, a packed lunch or breakfast for dinner

Weekend brunch at our house usually involves a big mess of blueberry pancakes, or something slightly fancier if we have guests over. But I decided to shake things up this past weekend for our little family of three, and whipped up Chatelaine’s ham and cheese frittata from the ‘Dinner in 30’ cookbook.

This recipe contains all the mini’s faves (ham, cheese, eggs), plus a few ingredients from her ‘I don’t like that’ list (peppers and tomatoes). Now while I (occasionally) appreciate help in the kitchen, I can do without commentary about what’s going into a recipe. While I chopped the peppers and tomatoes, I was berated with an endless stream of ‘those aren’t my favourite’ ‘I don’t like sweet peppers’ ‘I don’t want tomatoes in mine’. So I assured her she could pick out what she didn’t like, and we got back to work.

If you’re pressed for time, this is a great meal to make. With a few quick chops of the veggies and ham, some cheese grating and egg whisking, this dish is ready for the oven in minutes. I had to cook it for about five minutes longer than the recommended time to get the eggs to stop ‘jiggling’, but this frittata took only 35 minutes from bowl to table.  We had it with a green salad and fruit, and I don’t think anyone missed the pancakes. This dish would also make a great weeknight meal, as it’s hearty, healthy and super quick. And the mini didn’t even notice the peppers, although we had a little work to do getting the tomatoes out of the way of her fork’s momentum.

I will say that when this recipe says it makes four servings, it really does – no leftovers with this dish. So if you were planning brunch for a larger crowd, I’d double the recipe (but keep it in two separate dishes when baking to keep cooking times down) and add some scones or muffins to the table as well.

Try this recipe: Ham and cheese frittata