Ingredients

The following ingredients have 8 Servings
  • 3 oz dried pasta, cooked in salted boiling water
  • about 10 oz untrimmed asparagus, (bottom ends trimmed, roasted in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then cut into 1-inch pieces)
  • 3 T Balsamic vinegar, divided ((basic, inexpensive balsamic is what you want here))
  • 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and roughly chopped, (such as Hatfield Quality Meats Cherrywood Smoked Extra Thick Cut Triple Smoked Bacon)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 8 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
  • 1-2 T reserved bacon grease
  • 3 green onions, chopped, whites and greens separated
  • 8 eggs
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
  • flaky sea salt for sprinkling
  • Good quality Aceto Balsamico for drizzling

Instruction

  • Preheat the oven to 450 F.
  • Begin by starting the water boiling for the pasta. While the pasta cooks, begin the asparagus. When the pasta is done, rinse briefly with cold water to prevent sticking.
  • Clean the asparagus and break off the bottom ends. Gently pat dry, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Roast the asparagus until it is browned and tender. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of inexpensive balsamic vinegar. Let it cool for a minute or 2, and then remove to a cutting board and cut into bite sized pieces.
  • When the asparagus is done, lower the oven temperature to 350 F.
  • While the pasta is cooking and the asparagus is roasting, fry the bacon in batches in a cast iron (enameled is fine) 12-inch skillet. Periodically drain the pan of bacon grease and reserve the grease in a small bowl.
  • When the bacon is done, add 3/4 cup water and 1-2 tablespoons inexpensive balsamic vinegar to the pan to deglaze it and scrape up all of the yummy bacon bits. Let the water boil off.
  • When the water is mostly evaporated, add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt. Add a teaspoon or 2 of bacon grease. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are cooked.
  • Toward the end, add the chopped whites of the green onions to the mushrooms and fry them a bit.
  • While the mushrooms are cooking, place the eggs and cream in a deep bowl. I used the whisk attachment of an immersion blender; whatever you use, vigorously whisk the eggs and cream until they have lightened and thickened a bit. Whisk in a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.
  • When the mushrooms are finishing cooking, use a heat-proof brush to brush bacon grease around the sides of the skillet. Add a tad more grease to the pan if the mushrooms seem dry.
  • Spread the cooked pasta over the mushrooms.
  • Sprinkle the roasted asparagus evenly over the pasta.
  • Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese evenly over the asparagus.
  • Sprinkle the chopped bacon over the asparagus and goat cheese evenly.
  • Sprinkle 2/3 of the remaining chopped green onions over the bacon, and then pour the whisked eggs and cream over everything.
  • Sprinkle the frittata with flaky sea salt and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the eggs are set, the edges are puffy and coming away from the edges of the pan, and a knife inserted into the center of the frittata comes out mostly clean (try to avoid the goat cheese blobs).
  • Sprinkle the remaining green onions over the frittata.
  • Let the frittata set for 5 minutes before slicing. 
  • Drizzle with a high quality Aceto Balsamico if desired.