Sausage and Green Bean Frittata

 Do you ever feel inundated with vegetables during the summer? While the season can deliver an embarrassment of riches for those who crave fresh produce, it can sometimes feel like overkill. What to do with all these vegetables? A happy problem for sure, but one an avid cook may face if they feel trapped into making the same-old same-old.

The frittata is one simple solution for what to do with summer produce. It's simple, flexible and satisfying. Basically, gently cook any mixture of vegetables, preferably with some onion and/or garlic, combine with eggs and cheese, cook briefly on the stove and finish in the oven. It's pretty simple and it's delicious. I made this frittata with green beans, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and sausage. The combinations are really endless here.

Sausage and Green Bean Frittata

2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz. mild Italian chicken sausages, casings removed
1 bunch of scallions, white and light green parts chopped
8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced into 1/4-inch strips
Salt, to taste
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper flakes
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven broiler with rack about 4-5 inches from the broiler.

2. Insert a steamer insert into a medium saucepan and fill with water below the insert. Heat over medium-high heat until the water boils. Add the beans, cover and steam for 3 minutes until tender. Set beans aside.

3. Heat olive oil over medium heat in an oven-safe 12-inch nonstick frying pan. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until cooked through and lightly browned. Remove sausage from pan, transfer to a cutting board and chop into smaller pieces.

4. Add scallions and mushrooms to the pan, season with salt, Aleppo pepper, rosemary and thyme, and sauté until the onions are softened and the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the cooked green beans and sausage to the pan, stir to combine with the other ingredients and, using a spatula, smooth the ingredients into an even layer in the pan.

5. Stir half the cheese into the beaten eggs, then pour the egg mixture into the pan so that it is evenly distributed around the ingredients in the pan. Keep cooking on the stove without disturbing the ingredients to set the bottom of the egg. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Transfer the pan to the broiler and broil for 4 minutes until the frittata is cooked through, a bit puffy on top and lightly browned. Cut into wedges and serve.