Pepper and Potato Fritatta

Eggs are wonderful things. You get to the end of the week, there's a little bit of this and a small amount of that, none of it particularly related in a gastronomic sense and then you realise there's still some eggs and voila! you can make magic. Hard boiled egg and salad makes a very good lunch to take with you to the office, or wherever you may be heading. Lightly scrambled with some toast, this breakfast will see you through till midday without rumblings. If the cupboard is heading towards bare with only lentils to be found, cook them gently with some herbs and garlic then serve with a poached egg atop them for a very satisying supper.

Last Friday I had a couple of new potatoes, one red pepper, a handful of baby plum tomatoes and an onion, some celery, half a cucumber and a couple of carrots. Even with the last of Pie d'Angloy soft cheese it doesn't instantly shout Dinner for two! But then I also had half a dozen eggs so when I suggested to the man that we could have frittata for tea he smiled and said, we like frittata.

So I scrubbed the potatoes and halved them then boiled them till they were soft. Meanwhile I sliced the pepper thinly, heated a little oil in the base of a heavy pan and cooked it, lid on, over the gentlest heat till it was sweet and tinged with gold. I added a knob of butter, increased the heat to medium and stirred in chopped onions and some fresh thyme. When the onions were translucent in went the drained potatoes. Turned the grill to high. Then I beat the eggs with salt and pepper and a tiny splash of milk and poured it over the vegetables. I cooked it on a medium heat for about 15 minutes till most of the egg was set then scattered little pinches of soft cheese across the top, put it under the grill for a few minutes till the rest of the egg was set and whipped it out again. Quick sprinkle of basil from the garden.

Rested for a few minutes while I made a crunchy salad with celery, carrots and cucumber dressed with spiced orange oil. Served up it was a really good supper - almost like I'd planned it all along.