Beetroot and Feta Frittata

As part of my mission to save a few pennies, I've rediscovered the art of the packed lunch. Not that we're talking any old packed lunch (my days of soggy sandwiches and a bag of crisps are long gone); instead we're talking interesting, healthy(ish) and tasty meals. Salads are a current favourite, but I'm open to different ideas and when someone suggested quiche to me on Twitter recently I went one step further and went for a frittata.

Last week I made an aubergine, sweet potato frittata which was bloody good, but quite faffy as I char-grilled slices of aubergine (I wanted them to be soft and cooked through, but not soaked in oil) and roasted the sweet potato first. Today's effort was less faffy as, despite various websites telling me that beetroot takes 2-3 hours to cook, mine took 30 minutes. And, although I'd managed to get 50p knocked off my beetroot on the basis that the leaves looked a bit tired, I decided to stick them, and the stems, into the mix. The end result looks fab... shame I now have to wait until tomorrow's lunchtime to try it!

I started off by chopping the stems off a bunch of four beetroot, quite close to the tubers themselves, but leaving a little stump, and I washed the leaves and stems. I then scrubbed the beetroot (i.e. not peeled), leaving the roots intact (it helps prevent the colour bleeding out) and I roasted them, whole, with a drizzle of olive oil in a hot oven for half an hour or so.

In the meantime I took a large frying pan and gently fried off a diced white onion until soft, then added the beetroot leaves and stems and cooed through. I then whisked up 6 eggs, added about 150g of cubed feta and set the mix to one side until the beetroot cooked. Once cooked through (use a skewer to check) I sliced the beetroot and added it to the onion, stems and leaves and gave it a good mix. Then went in the egg and feta mix and I stirred everything up, with the pan off the heat.

Taking my trusty (name that cannot be mentioned) pan I put this on a very low heat, poured the egg and veg mixture in and let it cook for 20 mins before finishing it off under the grill for another 5.

At £3.60 for two portions, it's not the cheapest packed lunch I've ever had, but it's perfect for a treat at the end of the week!

***

So, you know the score... further frittata suggestions please!