Sausage and Spinach Baked Frittata

On Saturdays or Sundays, we like to do a brunch type meal – rather than a breakfast AND lunch. Frittatas are one of our ‘go to’ meals, for sure. We love eggs and a frittata, often, gives us the opportunity to ‘use up’ smallish leftovers in the refrigerator. Today’s frittata started with some Hillshire Farms sausage that was opened yesterday!

For this dish, the first thing you want to do is to slice your sausage – I decided to be ‘fancy’ and slice a few pieces (6 – because my frittatas are usually sized for about 6 slices/servings) diagonally, to put on top of the frittata prior to putting it in the oven.

I, personally, could probably stand more than 1/2 of an onion – but, that might be overwhelming to some, so I stuck to 1/2 of an onion for this dish.

Combine the sausage and onion in a skillet, over medium – high heat.

Cook until the sausage has a sear and the onions are translucent. If you do the ‘fancy’ slices of sausage – cook them separate from the rough chopped sausage and onion, and set this all aside to cool a bit.

Grate your cheese (I ended up with about a cup, shredded, given the amount of block cheese I had left – but, you can just add as much cheese as you like – I am a big cheese lover, so rare is the occasion that I think it is ‘too much’ cheese) and chop your spinach.

In a bowl, whisk your eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Then add the other ingredients and mix well (I usually hold back a little bit of cheese, to top the mixture, as I love how it browns in the oven). Pour the mixture into a lightly greased pie plate (this is what I use) or frittata pan. Top with any reserved cheese and the diagonally sliced sausage.

Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until eggs are cooked through and top is nicely browned).

Sausage and Spinach Fritatta

6 eggs
7 oz Hillshire Farms smoked sausage (1/2 of a 14 oz rope)
1/2 onion
1 cup chopped baby spinach
3/4-1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tbsp milk (or half and half or cream)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

• Preheat oven oven to 400 degrees
• Slice sausage (if you want, slice 6 slices cross ways to ‘top’ the fritatta)
• Finely chop onion
• Combine onion and sausage in skillet over medium – high heat. Cook until sausage is seared and onion is translucent – remove from pan and set aside to cool a bit
• Shred cheese and chop spinach
• In bowl, whist together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper
• Add sausage/onion mixure, vegetables and cheese to eggs – mix well
• Pour mixture into a lightly greased pie plate or fritatta pan
• Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until eggs are fully cooked and nicely browned on top)