Broccolini Canadian Bacon Frittata

Ingredients:
1 bunch broccolini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
8 oz Parmesan cubes
10 slices Canadian bacon*, in 1/4 inch wide strips
9 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1-2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a 12 inch cast iron skillet, heat oil and butter. When hot, saute the broccolini and onions until the onions are translucent. Add the Canadian bacon and saute just until it is warmed through. Whisk the spices and mustard into the eggs. Pour over the broccolini mixture. Evenly distribute the cheese over the egg. Tilt the skillet slightly and turn to coat the ingredients in the skillet with the egg mixture. Keep on medium heat and cook until just beginning to set. Place in the oven about 10 minutes or until the top is just beginning to brown. Check to make sure it is fully cooked by sticking it with a thin knife. Remove from pan and slice.

Yield: 8 servings

*My Canadian bacon slices were on the large yet thin side. Some brands may have thicker/smaller slices. If so, feel free to use more or less bacon.

My thoughts:

I always like finding broccolini at the grocery store. While I like broccoli, it is a little large and robust for everything I'd like to use it in. Broccolini is a cross between broccoli and gai-lan (Chinese broccoli) so it has that broccoli-like flavor but is smaller and tender. Perfect for dishes like this one. Canadian bacon was my go-to for the meat because of its smoky flavor which I thought would pair well with the broccolini. I chose the Parmesan for the same reason. I needed a fairly robust cheese to stand up to the other flavors. I used these pre-cubed Parmesan "nuggets" from Piacci which I liked a lot. It made the dish a lot easier to put together but it was still a very tasty cheese (unlike many pre-cubed cheeses I've encountered). They just melted right into the frittata while it was in the oven, forming the best little cheese pockets. Yum.