Merguez, Kale, and Sweet Potato Frittata

Whether you're entertaining two or 10 around the holidays, it's hard to beat a frittata when it comes to serving up a hearty and healthy breakfast.

Akin to a large, flat (i.e. unrolled) omelette, frittatas are the perfect brunch item, in my book. It's a vehicle for all sorts of toppings, here salty and spicy merguez sausage, rich green winter kale, chunks of roasted sweet potato, and delicate caramelized onions. All of the ingredients can be prepped in advance, so all you need to do is mix the eggs and add the ingredients about 20 minutes before you want to eat.

This recipe serves two, but it can be easily doubled or tripled to feed your group. Just use a larger sauté pan and be sure to cook the frittata until the center is just set — it will certainly take longer in the oven. Serve with toasted slices of hearty farm bread (I liked Zingerman's and Wave Hill pre-no-gluten), fresh butter, and jam.

Merguez, Kale, and Sweet Potato Frittata

1 Sweet potato, chopped into 1/4-by-1/2-inch chunks
Olive oil, for roasting
Salt, to taste
2 links Merguez sausage, casings removed
6 ounces baby kale, washed and torn into 3-inch pieces
4 eggs
2 ounces grated cheese, preferably fontina or Gruyère, if desired
2 yellow onions, finely sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 8-by-8-inch baking pan, combine the sweet potato with just enough oil to coat and a sprinkling of salt. Toss well. Roast in oven for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until the largest chunks are fork tender. Set aside.

While potatoes cook, heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil and then the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions release their moisture, then turn heat down to medium-high. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and are lightly caramelized. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, add the sausage and cook over high heat. Break the meat into small chunks and cook until brown, about 3-5 minutes. Set the meat aside, making sure to reserve the juices in the pan.

In the same, still-hot pan, add the kale and cover with a lid. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, then stir. If there isn't a lot of moisture at the bottom of the pan, add a couple of tablespoons of water to help wilt the greens. Set the kale aside, uncovered, once tender, about 3 minutes more.

Turn oven down to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs well and lightly season. Heat a 10-inch skillet over high heat. Add 3 tablespoons oil and turn heat to medium-high. Add in the sweet potato, onions, sausage, and kale. Stir well and immediately pour into pan. Cook about 5 minutes on the stovetop, or until the sides begin to set, then transfer to the oven for about 5-10 minutes longer, or until the center of the frittata is just set. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Recipe Details:

Can be made in advance and gently reheated in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until warm.

Servings: 2
Total time: 1 hour

Dried Cherry- and Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Winter squash can be intimidating. There are a number of varieties, all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. does one cut it, or peel it? And what on earth is that gunk that butternut squash leave on your hands post-peeling - the sap that makes your skin peel off? Almost makes me not want to battle these wonderful winter starches. But they're really worth it...

There are a number of ways to prepare winter squashes. Slice it in half, scoop out the seeds, and cost the halves for a puree with a touch of caramelized depth. Or cube up the pieces and throw it in the steamer for a lighter puree. I love these tips, or will often peel, cube, and roast the vegetable-du-jour it until each piece is crispy in the corner, tender inside, and with a rich caramelized color all around. Delicious. But even then, after a couple of times of making this (I've used it in pasta, risotto, omelettes, salads, and more), it can get monotonous.

For someone gluten- and corn-free like me, finding healthy carbohydrates to satisfy my hankering can be a challenge. Squash saves the day, so I'm always thinking of new ways to serve up this starch (My vegetables aren't vegetables unless they're green!)

Stuffed squash is one of my new favorite go-tos. Start with some sausage, or for vegetarians, a base of brown rice. Supplement with sweeteners (honey or maple syrup) and spices as you wish, then add a variety of flavorings from cherries and pine nuts to something exotic, like pineapple, coconut, and chopped macadamia nuts. You can even try greens — kale, miso, and a garnish of scallion sounds delicious, doesn’t it?


Dried Cherry and Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash, sliced in half and seeds scooped out
4 tablespoons olive oil, for brushing, plus more for sautéing
4 tablespoons maple syrup, for brushing
Salt, to taste
2 large yellow onions, finely diced
6 turkey sausage links, removed from casings
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup pinenuts, toasted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Trim off the bottom of each squash half so each sits flat. Brush with olive oil and maple syrup. Season with salt and bake for about 1 hour, or until the flesh is tender when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the onions and turn the heat to medium high. Cook for about 10 minutes or until onions are golden and translucent. Season with a pinch of salt and add the turkey sausage. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the meat is cooked most of the way through. Add the cherries and remove from heat. Set aside.

Once the squash is tender, fill each with stuffing. Bake for about 10 minutes, until everything is warmed through. Garnish with pinenuts and serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Einkorn Pasta with a Vegetable and Sausage Ragout

Einkorn pasta is a new alternative to whole wheat and other gluten-free pastas on the market. I like its nuttiness, plus it adds has a walloping amount of protein to help keep your blood sugar steady. It's also gluten-free. Best part? It tastes good!

This is a recipe I developed last fall for The Daily Meal. I wish I had some to warm up tonight to serve with the fettuccine I made last weekend. Sadly, it was pureed into a rich and healthy tomato soup.

This healthy – and easy – pasta sauce pairs well with einkorn pasta. Feel free to vary the kinds of vegetables used in the sauce, depending on what is freshest or in season. 

4 links fresh sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings removed (optional)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/3-inch pieces

1 head of broccoli and stem, cut in florets and chopped (optional)

Salt and pepper

10 cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

26 ounces packaged strained Italian tomatoes, preferably Pomi 

26 ounces packaged chopped Italian tomatoes, preferably Pomi 

If you are using the sausage, heat a 10-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook the links until they are lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside.

In a 6-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté for one minute. Then add the garlic and sauté, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the chopped zucchini and broccoli, if using, to the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook until they begin to give off some of their moisture. 

Pour in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the flavor has deepened. Season to taste.

Serves 4

A Figgy Finale

Saturday night's dinner was the culmination of two and half days of cooking my way through a batch of twenty fresh figs (and some dried ones, as well). Ever since my friends Meghan and Lindsay took me to Sfoglia to celebrate my birthday (the day before -- twas a week full of celebrations), I have been obsessed with a dish the chef, Ron, actually came to my former employer to cook: Pasta with Figs, Brown Butter, Basil, and Hazelnuts. I had a bag of handmade, homemade pappardelle in my freezer. More figs than I could eat in one sitting. And some fresh basil I had been growing for the past two weeks in a NY windowsill.

I started the evening off making a red wine-fig vinaigrette with a 1/3 full bottle of one of my favorite red wines (Heitz Cabernet -- loved visiting this winery!) and five dried figs I had on hand. I tossed this with some baby spinach from the greenmarket, and voila - a healthy dose of greens!

I then proceeded to finish cooking off my pasta and browning my butter. I added the fresh figs and basil, with a pinch of salt, to the browned butter and tossed them together, cooking them til the flavors
melded. To that I added my cooked pasta with about 1/4 c pasta water. Brought the mixture to a gentle boil and tossed the ingredients together while the sauce reduced slightly. Served with a healthy dose of grated gruyere, and a garnish of sauteed spicy Italian sausage (I had no toasted hazelnuts on hand, but the pasta is very good with plain, roasted, salted mixed nuts), it was a delicious dish to end a busy day.

Spicy Italian sausage

The finished dish, pasta atop greens

Red Wine Fig Vinaigrette

1 1/2 - 2 cups red wine
5-6 dried figs, quartered
6 demerara sugar cubes
2 tbsp champagne vinegar
Grapeseed oil (I used about 1/4 c)

In a 8" saucepan, bring figs and wine to a boil and reduce until about 1/4" deep (1/2 cup of liquid, or thereabouts). Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour wine mixture into a jar and add oil and vinegar, shaking to homogenize. Season to taste.

Fig, Brown Butter, Basil Pasta
Serves 2

6 tbsp salted butter
8 figs, quartered
1/2 c basil leaves
Salt to taste
Pappardelle, or another thicker noodle, enough for 2 people
2 spicy Italian chicken sausages, cooked and sliced on the bias, optional
Toasted hazelnuts or mixed nuts, optional
Freshly grated gruyere to taste.

Boil water for the pasta. While the water comes to a boil, heat a 12" sautepan over medium heat. Add the butter and cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter begins to brown and smells nutty. Take the brown color to a dark chocolate color, remove the pan from the heat and add the figs and basil. Season to taste. Cook the pasta as instructed, draining all but 1/4 c pasta water. Add the pasta and reserved water to the sautepan (if it fits -- if not, add to pasta pot).  Toss gently and bring to a boil to reduce the sauce slightly. Plate the pasta, garnishing with chicken sausages and freshly grated gruyere. And basil chiffonade, if you please!