Thursday, October 09, 2014

Slow Cooker Cheese Greens & Sausage Frittata


Adapted from Idiot's Guides: Slow Cooker Cooking

I especially love the versatility of this recipe - choose your favorite cheeses - grate your own or buy a bag of blended grated cheeses; choose a green - the book calls for kale and it was delicious, but spinach or beet greens or Swiss chard or arugula would be wonderful too; sausages - anything from breakfast sausages to Italian, Chorizo ... sweet, or spicy, the choice is yours.   And if you want to quicken up the prep process, go vegetarian and add a pinch or two of your favorite herb or spice.

If, like us you are only feeding two for breakfast, this recipe keeps well for a few days and you can just heat up slices in the microwave.

Printable Recipe

Prep time 10 minutes
Slow cooker time 8 hours

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 lb/ 450g ground sausage meat ( the book calls for pork, but be adventurous or choose your favorite.  I used Andouille sausages this time)
1 bunch of kale, roughly chopped into 1" pieces ( next time Swiss chard, or .... your favorite greens)
10 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
Cheese - the following are from the book, but as long as the total amount stays the same, use your favorites)
1 cup shredded provolone
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
Note:  I also added 1 tbsp spicy peperoncini, because I like a little "heat",  1 tbsp dried herbs would be delicious too.

Directions:
1. If you are using meat, heat a large skillet to medium high and brown sausage meat in small chunks for about 6 minutes.  Most of the pink should be gone, but it doesn't need to be totally cooked through.  Remember it will continue to cook for 8 hours.

2. Add kale, turn off the heat, cover with a lid or foil and let sit for 3 min.  If you're not sauteeing meat, you still need to wilt kale.  Other greens like, Swiss chard or spinach will wilt by themselves in the slow cooker.

3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk until well combined.

4. Add the grated cheeses, sun dried tomatoes (optional, and any dried herbs and spices ).  Stir in sausage and greens.   Mix well and pour into the slow cooker.  The recipe calls for a 6-8qt/5.5-7.5l cooker, but I did mine in our 4qt

5. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours

It was wonderful to wake up to delicious aroma and ready to eat frittata.

1 comment:

Cyndi said...

I have always wondered if there was a breakfast dish that could be made overnight in the crockpot. Most of the ones I've seen take 2-4 hours, making them unsuitable for breakfast. You've done the testing for me! I'm already thinking of the variations (green chiles/jalapenos, bacon, onions/bell peppers...). Thanks so much for this, Ruth!