Sunday, April 6, 2014

Palm Sunday Frittata

When we lived in Pittsburgh, we ate dinner at my husband's grandmother's house on Palm Sunday.  Mammaw always made her famous frittata the Sunday before Easter, a dish I loved from the first time I tried it.  When we left Pittsburgh, Mitch wanted to continue his family's traditional Palm Sunday dinner, so we started making Mammaw's frittata.  Over the years, we have reduced the recipe because we are not cooking for a large group, and removed the soppressata, an Italian salami that my daughters are not fond of.  


My husband Mitch made this frittata entirely on his own.  He cuts the salami, mozzarella, and provolone into little cubes, just like his grandmother.  


When I was younger, I never would have thought I would like a savory dish with ricotta, but the ricotta layer is one of my favorite parts of this dish.  


Tonight, Mitch used a dozen eggs.  Last year, I wrote down that he used 15.  The important part is to have enough egg to cover all the other ingredients.  


After an hour in the oven, our Palm Sunday Frittata was perfectly cooked.


We all love this dish so much, I don't know why we don't make it more often.  I guess it makes it a little more special that we only make it on Palm Sunday.  

Palm Sunday Frittata

Ingredients

3/4 to 1 lb mild/sweet Italian sausage 
1/2 lb (8 oz) provolone cheese 
1/2 lb (8 oz) salami 
1/2 lb (8 oz) whole milk mozzarella 
15 to 16 oz whole milk ricotta
12 large eggs - beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Cook your sausage, and spread it out evenly in a 10x10 baking dish.  

Cut your provolone, salami, and mozzarella into small cubes, then layer them one at a time in the baking dish in the order they are listed.  

Spread the ricotta out evenly on top of the other ingredients before adding the eggs.  Gently poke the frittata with a knife or fork all over so the egg begins to soak in.  If the egg is not covering the other ingredients well, add 1 or 2 more eggs.  

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until nicely browned on top, and the egg is cooked through.  

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe Notes

Use whole milk ricotta, so the ricotta layer is nice and firm.  


I use a 15 oz package of 365 mild Italian pork sausage from Whole Foods, which is labeled gluten free.  I bought an 8 oz package of Polly-O whole milk mozzarella at Publix in the dairy section. So I don't have to worry about cross contamination at the deli counter, I use pre-packaged Boar's Head provolone slices and Bianco D'Oro Italian Dry Salame (7 oz).  I stack all the provolone slices on top of each other, and cut them into small pieces.  You can read my review of Boar's Head products here.  All of their deli meats, cheeses, and condiments are gluten free. 


Mammaw always serves her frittata with a tomato and onion salad, but not being fond of raw onions, I made a tomato, cucumber and feta salad.  I dressed it with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.  


Palm Sunday Frittata is great left over for breakfast, lunch, or dinner the next day.  The leftovers are just as good cold or at room temperature.  

We served this dish a week early because of our upcoming Disney cruise.  It's a meal we did not want to miss!  Mammaw has been making this recipe for at least 70 years, and her mother made it before that.  I hope to continue the tradition of Palm Sunday Frittata for many more decades to come.  

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4 comments:

  1. This looks amazing! My grandmother made something similiar but referred to it as Easter Pie. Can't wait to give this one a try.

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  2. That looks sooooo good. I love making frittatas, can't wait to add this one to the rotation.

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    1. Thanks! I hope you love it as much as we do! I just made a bacon and potato frittata last night, my second frittata of the week. :-)

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