Basic Baked Frittata Recipe

March arrived and with it the first real smell of spring — that specific Oklahoma mud smell that comes up from the ground when the temperature breaks fifty for the first time since October and everything that has been frozen under the surface starts to move. I drove home from the supply yard Thursday evening and the smell came through the truck window and I remembered that spring exists, that the color will come back, that the wild onion patch behind the old house in Turley will be pushing up in two to three weeks.

Hannah is already planning the wild onion gathering. She coordinates with the Cherokee Nation's nutrition program every spring — they organize a gathering day, a community event, families going out to the designated sites on tribal land where the wild onions grow thick, picking together, sharing knowledge about which plants are mature and which need more time. It is one of the most important cultural events of the Cherokee year and one that almost died out in the twentieth century as families moved to cities and the gathering sites were built over or sold or just forgotten.

Kai is going this year. He is three and a half and he can walk the terrain and he has enough patience now — barely enough, but enough — to participate in something that requires looking at the ground and moving slowly. Last year he was too young and too volatile. This year he is ready. Hannah has been talking to him about wild onions for two weeks, showing him pictures, explaining what they look like, explaining that this is what Cherokee families have done in the spring for as long as there have been Cherokee families and springs together. He listens to Hannah the way he listens to Miss Janet at school — with the focused attention of a child who knows this person has something real to offer.

Danny will not be going. Danny has not been to a wild onion gathering in three years. But I will tell him everything about it when I come home, and I will bring him a plate of the eggs and onions, and he will eat it and tell me if I got the ratio right. That is how it works now. I go and he listens. He taught me and now I go. The direction of learning has reversed and neither of us mentions it out loud.

The dish Danny taught me — and the dish I will bring home to him this spring — is simpler than people expect: eggs and wild onions, cooked together until the eggs just set and the onion flavor runs through every bite. Until we get to gathering day, this basic baked frittata is what I make to keep the feeling close, swapping in whatever spring onions I can find at the market and letting Kai stand at the counter and watch. It’s not the same as what comes out of a cast iron on a fire at the gathering site, but it holds the shape of that meal — eggs, onions, heat, and the people you love somewhere nearby — and that is enough for now.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1 cup thinly sliced spring onions or scallions (about 1 bunch), white and green parts
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice (optional — cheddar or Monterey Jack work well)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Position a rack in the center.
Whisk the eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder if using until the mixture is smooth and slightly frothy. Set aside.
Cook the onions. Heat the olive oil or butter in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced spring onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes until softened and fragrant. Do not let them brown — you want them tender and mild.
Add the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cooked onions in the skillet. Gently stir once to distribute the onions throughout. If using cheese, scatter it over the top.
Bake. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the center of the frittata is just set and no longer jiggles when you shake the pan gently. The edges should be lightly golden.
Rest and serve. Remove from the oven and let the frittata rest in the pan for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing into wedges. Serve warm directly from the skillet.

Nutrition (per serving)

Basic Baked Frittata Recipe — The Eggs and Onions We Carry Home