Ostrich Egg Frittataspanolouffle

Ostrich Egg Frittataspanolouffle with Black Rice Salad

When I found out that Whole Foods was selling ostrich eggs (thanks for the heads up, Monica), I instantly had a vision of a frittata-esque dish. Then, I looked through my latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated and saw a recipe for Tortilla Española. I decided to use this as inspiration, as I thought the subtle flavors of potatoes and red onion would allow us to taste the flavor of the ostrich egg, which I’d read taste different from chicken eggs.We noticed that the ostrich egg had a delicate, almost sweet flavor. I’m not sure it’s really worth 10x the price on any kind of a regular basis, but it was definitely worth it to try it out, and maybe for some sort of special occasion. The one ostrich egg was roughly equivalent to a dozen chicken eggs, and boy was it hard to break into that thick shell. Christin took pictures of me struggling with the thing. First of all, you really have to whack it, and it’s as if you’re whacking a dinner plate – bits of shell flew everywhere. I ended up just prying open a large enough hole that I could pour the egg out. I should have used a wider pot for this, but it was kind of fun to eat a really tall Tortilla Española – Frittata – Souffle hybrid, so I’m not sorry I used my old standby 5.5 quart Creuset pot for the job. Ostrich Egg Frittataspañolouffle 6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced 8 small Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced with skin on (preferably from Holly’s CSA box) 2 tsp salt ½ tsp cayenne 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1 ostrich egg (or a dozen chicken eggs, or probably 8 duck eggs) 1 Tbsp cream ¼ cup swiss cheese, shredded ¼ cup provolone, shredded ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped Preheat oven to 375. Place olive oil in heavy bottomed, 5.5 quart or larger, oven safe pan over medium heat. Slice onion and place in pan, stirring occasionally. Add salt. Scrub and slice potatoes, and add to pan. When potatoes and onions have started to brown, add your spices, then cover and cook until potatoes are tender. While potatoes are cooking, whack and pry open your egg, pour into a bowl, and whisk with cream. Add cheeses and parsley and whisk once more (I forgot to do this before adding to the pan, which is why you can’t see the parsley floating around in the picture – it would have been easier if I’d remembered to do this before pouring the egg into the pan). Cover pan and place in oven. Cook for about 45 minutes (check at about 30 minutes), or until the egg springs back when you poke it in the center.

Check out the size of this thing! After whacking the bejeezes out of it, I finally have a hole I can pry open. Pouring the egg out of its shell. That’s a big egg. Whisking the egg. The egg is now in the pot! It’s a masterpiece! (Or at least the tallest frittata Sasha’s ever seen)

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