Pumpkin Frittata

Pumpkin Frittata is a quick and easy oven baked recipe perfect for lunch or dinner. This frittata is loaded with roasted pumpkin, fresh spinach, dollops of ricotta and an egg and cheese mix to hold it all together. This spinach and pumpkin frittata will be your new go to healthy any time of day recipe.

Recipes like the Zucchini Frittata, Bacon and Egg Slice and the Gluten Free Zucchini Slice are all about easy egg based savory slices.

The Zucchini And Carrot Fritters, Bacon And Corn Fritters and Ham Fritters offer a similar combination of flavours with different tastes and textures.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: you will be able to get everything you need to make this crustless quiche from your local grocery store. They are all easy ingredients available all year round and will be simple to get your hands on.
• Cost effective: this is a budget friendly egg-based dish that won't break the bank. It is a great recipe to meal prep on the weekends so that there is food in the fridge that you only need to heat in order for everyone to eat 😉👍.
• Kid friendly: this is the easiest recipe to load with vegetables and then feed hungry little ones with. It is packed with pumpkin and spinach, but also has cheese and smooth ricotta to keep things interesting. The whole family can enjoy the frittata together!
• Freezer friendly: this pumpkin spinach frittata freezes very well. Simply allow it to fully cool once cooked then slice and store portions in the freezer. It is the perfect recipe to have on hand so that you can grab and use as needed.
• Versatile: there is not a meal in the day that this pumpkin spinach frittata won't work for. It is perfect across occasions. Try it for a healthy breakfast, a weekend brunch, easy meal after a busy day or popped in lunch boxes as a nice change from a sandwich.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the roasted pumpkin frittata recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Olive oil: we use a little olive oil in the initial steps as we roast the pumpkin in the oven.
• Salt and pepper: we use a small amount of salt and black pepper to season the pumpkin before we cook it.
• Dried thyme: we sprinkle this over the pumpkin pieces with the oil, salt and pepper as a means to provide additional flavour to the roasted pumpkin pieces.
• Pine nuts: we sprinkle these over the top of the frittata before we bake it. They add some additional texture to the recipe.
• Parmesan cheese: we use 3 types of cheese in the frittata! The parmesan is bold and strong and goes into the egg mixture. Freshly grating it with a microplane zester is best.
• Cheese: this is the 2nd type of cheese for the frittata. I am using tasty cheese that I grate using a handheld grater. You can use mozzarella cheese or cheddar if you want to also.
• Cream: we need heavy cream not dollop or whipped. It gets added to the eggs and combined with the parmesan. This combination is the glue that holds the frittata together.
• Eggs: you will need 6 of these. Free range are best and small to medium are the perfect size.
• Ricotta cheese: you will find this in the fridge aisle with the other cheeses where the cream cheese and bocconcini is. It has a thick yogurt like consistency and is perfect to 'dollop'.
• Spinach: we use 2 cups of fresh spinach leaves and then use kitchen scissors to roughly chop them up. This will reduce the 2 cups down to about 1 cup of chopped spinach.
• Pumpkin: this is the main ingredients in our frittata. I usually purchase a whole small butternut squash pumpkin, slice it in half, remove the seeds, peel and chop it into smaller pieces from there. If it is more than 3 cups I use the rest of it for another recipe. Cause it;s a bit tricky to be standing in the fruit shop with a pumpkin in hand trying to work out if it is enough 🧐. So more of it rather than less works to tick the enough of what we need box 👌.

Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by roasting the pumpkin.

• Add the cubed pumpkin pieces (Photo 1)
• Then add olive oil (Photo 2)
• Add salt and pepper (Photo 3)
• Next add thyme (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Pumpkin Frittata

Start by spraying an oven proof skillet with olive oil. Then add the diced pumpkin pieces to the skillet. Drizzle over the olive oil and then season the pumpkin with the salt, pepper and dried thyme.

Next you can put the skillet into the oven so that the pumpkin pieces can roast. It will take 15 to 20 minutes.

You can also use this time to prepare the egg mixture which you can see in the photos below.

• Crack eggs into bowl (Photo 5)
• Add cream (Photo 6)
• Then add parmesan cheese (Photo 7)
• Whisk to combine (Photo 8)

Working 1 at a time crack the eggs into a large bowl, then use a fork to whisk eggs.

Once done, pour the cream into the beaten eggs and then add the parmesan cheese and whisk again to combine.

Next use oven mitts to remove the skillet with the pumpkin from the oven, place it onto a heat proof surface and use a folded piece of paper towel and tongs to remove the excess oil.

• Absorb excess oil (Photo 9)
• Add the chopped spinach (Photo 10)
• Dollop in the ricotta (Photo 11)
• Add the cheese (Photo 12)

🥘 Spinach and Pumpkin Frittata

Once done ensure the roasted pumpkin pieces are across the base of the skillet in a single layer. Then sprinkle the chopped spinach pieces across the top.

Next use a spoon to dollop the ricotta into the frittata like you see me doing in the photo above.

Once done with the ricotta cheese layer, sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

• Pour egg mixture over the top of the frittata ingredients (Photo 13)
• Add the pine nuts (Photo 14)
• The frittata is ready to be cooked (Photo 15)
• Bake the frittata for 30 minutes (Photo 16)

Next we want to pour the egg mixture over the top of the frittata ingredients like you can see in the photo above.

Once that is done sprinkle the pine nuts across the surface of the frittata.

Now it is ready to be cooked! Woot. Hard work done.

Place the frittata onto the middle shelf of the oven and let it bake for 25 to 30 minutes. It will be cooked when the edges are golden brown and there is no wobble in the middle. You can test this by using an oven mitt and holding the handle of the skillet and moving it back and forth. Or insert a skewer into the centre of the pan (not into a dollop of ricotta though) and see if it comes out dry.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

This frittata is really easy to pair with a simple green salad and lunch or perfect for a light dinner. You can even keep it really simple and throw some baby spinach leaves on the side, sprinkle some fresh herbs on top and call it a healthy lunch.

Try the Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad. Tomato Bread Salad or the Fresh Herb Salad.

If breads are your thing try the Garlic Pizza Bread, Ciabatta Garlic Bread or the Turkish Garlic Bread.

You can sprinkle some fresh herbs over the top like you see in the photo above. I am using chopped chives, but parsley (curly or flat leaf) or basil leaves will do the trick and add a pop or 2 of colour also.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftover frittata in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge. The portions can be kept for 3 days. They can also be consumed hot or cold.

How to Reheat

Place a piece of leftover pumpkin feta frittata onto a plate and pull a layer of cling wrap over the top. Reheat in the microwave on high using 1 minute increments until the frittata is heated through.

How to Freeze

Allow the frittata to fully cool. Then slice into portions. These can be transferred into air tight containers or zip lock plastic bags, with the air pushed out of them. Then seal the bags and stack them in the freezer. They can be frozen for up to 3 months and are best fully thawed before being reheated.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use sweet potatoes in place of the pumpkin if you wish too.
• You can use pecorino romano in place of the parmesan cheese (equivalent amount).
• If you want to use feta cheese in place of the ricotta you can. Simply unpackage it, break or chop it into small cubes and place these into the pan where the instruction is to 'dollop in the ricotta'.
• Or you can use goat cheese. Chop this up and sprinkle it across the frittata like we are doing with the ricotta so that it is evenly spread throughout the recipe.
• If you want to use rocket leaves (arugula) in place of the spinach leaves you can (equivalent amount).
• Fresh of either of the above 2 are best to use. Frozen spinach is convenient and there is many recipes it works for. However, for this recipe I recommend fresh. Doing so keeps excess water out of the frittata pumpkin which we don't want in there as moisture makes egg slices, frittatas, omelettes and quiches soggy.
• For garnish, you can use thinly sliced green onions in place of the chives if you wish too.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• A cast iron skillet is super handy to use to make the recipe as it is oven safe and easy to use. A pie dish is another great alternative.
• If you are making this frittata as a means to meal prep and have lunches or snacks sorted during the week a rectangular or square baking dish will be a better choice than a round skillet. This is because those sliced portions will have solid edges and a uniform size. Triangular frittata pieces are a bit more fragile when being frozen and then thawed.
• We do want oil in the skillet so that the frittata won't stick, however, we don't want so much that the frittata tastes or looks 'oily'. So once we have roasted the pumpkin pieces, we fold a piece of paper towel into a square and use this and a pair of tongs to absorb the excess oil in the pan. Then discard the paper towel.
• Frittatas and egg based slices always return sharper slices (the edge pieces) if they have fully cooled. So if you have time, make the recipe, let it cool in the fridge overnight and then cut it the next day. Or you can still cut it the day you make it however, the edges won't be as sharp and clean as the mixture is still warm and hasn't 'set' after being baked.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep a frittata from getting soggy?

To avoid a soggy frittata you need to cook any large vegetable pieces that are being used for the recipe. Pumpkin and capsicum (bell peppers) are best roasted to release their juices. The spinach leaves won't need to be cooked as they have very little moisture content.

Can you make a frittata ahead of time and reheat?

Yes, absolutely. Frittatas are an excellent recipe to make ahead and then reheat for the next couple of days. Or if storing for longer than 3 days, let the frittata cool, slice into portions and then freeze in zip lock plastic bags with the air pushed out then sealed.

What's the difference between an omlette and a frittata?

A omelette has an egg base which is poured onto a hot pan with toppings added and then the omelette is folded or rolled. A frittata is similar to an omelette and also has an egg base, but it is much thicker than an impletelle and incorporates ingredients that an omelette would not normally have.

😍 More Easy Lunch Recipes

The meal at the centre of our day doesn't have to be the most boring one! With some creativity and inspiration you can make it something to look forward too. Here are some ideas for you to try:

• Mini Hot Dogs
• Brie Croissant
• Mini Croissant Sandwiches
• Chicken Sausage Rolls
• Roast Beef Sliders
• Wagyu Beef Burger
• Polenta Al Forno
• Cocktail Sausages
• Pinwheel Sandwiches

It is time to roast our pumpkin my friend. You can also find all of my lunch recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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