This is a great brunch dish with a fresh salad. I like to finely chop most of the asparagus to get their full flavour out and leave just a few ones whole for decoration. The red onion marries perfectly with the cheese and mustard filling. It is best eaten warm rather than hot.

Serves: 4-6
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes

Ingredients

● 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
● 1 red onion, finely sliced
● 200g asparagus tips
● 6 eggs
● 2 tbsp crème fraîche or milk
● 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
● 1 tbsp French mustard
● 50g grated cheddar cheese
● 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
● Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

● Preheat the oven to 200°C and line the base of a 25cm round tart dish with parchment paper.

● Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and when hot add the onion. Leave to cook covered over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

● Meanwhile, wash the asparagus tips and put them in a shallow bowl with a pinch of salt. Add boiling water on top, cover and after 2 minutes drain and pass the asparagus under cold water.

● Rub 5 - 6 whole asparagus tips with oil and keep to one side. Finely slice the rest of the asparagus tips and add them to the onion. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook uncovered over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

● In a bowl, gently beat the eggs and add the crème fraîche or milk, smoked paprika, mustard, the cheeses and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Add ¾ of the cooked onion and asparagus mixture to the beaten egg mixture and stir well.

● Pour in the egg mixture into the baking dish then scatter the remaining red onion and asparagus mixture over the top with the whole asparagus tips. This will give a lovely vivid colour to the frittata.

● Bake in the hot oven for 12 minutes until set and switch on the grill. When the frittata has set flash it under the hot grill for a couple of minutes until golden.

● Leave to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Asparagus and red onion frittata