I’m Italian, but I had not heard of or had a frittata–a wonderful egg dish– until I came to Texas.

A friend came to visit me from Illinois, and on the Sunday morning of her visit the man I was dating at the time came to my home with a bag of groceries. Out of the bag he pulled asparagus, tomatoes, a dozen free-range brown eggs, and some other goodies.

He also brought with him the fixings for Bloody Marys, and made us each a tall tasty glass of the cocktail, ushered us onto the porch to enjoy them, and then took  up residence in the kitchen.

He didn’t tell us what he was making, and to tell the truth I was a little skeptical as I’d never seen him cook anything more than grilled cheese sandwiches–and burn those. But when a man you’re dating declares he’s going to cook breakfast for you and your out of town girlfriend, you let him, because it’s a lovely gesture and it causes your friend to become a little jealous.

He wasn’t in the kitchen long before he brought out my cast iron skillet filled with a gorgeous , golden thing he called a frittata. He explained it was like a omelet, but instead of the egg wrapping around the filling, the filling was mixed in with the eggs. It was decorated beautifully with asparagus and sliced tomatoes, and tasted divine.

The years have passed, and he has been out of the picture for quite a long time, but I still make, enjoy and share frittatas.

I call the recipe below Friday Frittata because back when I was a semi-practicing Catholic, I tried to observe lenten traditions of “no meat on Friday.” Eggs were my go-to, and frittatas on Friday were a staple for dinner.

Ingredients
serves 4

• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 2 tsp butter
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 5 stalks of asparagus, lightly steamed
• 4 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• 4 oz smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 large scallion, chopped, white and light green parts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. In a heavy, 9-inch diameter ovenproof skillet (I like cast iron) saute onions in the butter until they are translucent (as translucent as red onions can get, that is).
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and then add the other ingredients–except the asparagus–and mix well.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the onions, and then take the asparagus stalks and gently place those on top of the egg mixture in a sunburst pattern (the base of the spears toward the center of the pan with tips pointing  toward the outer edge).
5. Bake the frittata about 25 minutes, until it puffs up, and a knife put in the center comes out clean.
6. Serve immediately from the pan.