Sunday Brunch Baked-Beans and herbs Frittata

I like to think Sunday is my day of leisure. Ha! Most Sundays, I am involved in my hobbies (painting, art and shopping) and cooking. My modus operandi is to bully my friends into brunch at Flurys, in the absence of which I cook myself a huge brunch and then go out in the evening for a fancy schmancy dinner.

Sunday brunch tends to stuff that I do not have the time to cook during the week like pancakes, dosas, parathas, french toast and very often a huge baked beans and herbs frittata. This frittata is a combination of baked beans and a masala omelette and goes really well on toast. This is very simple and impresses most visitors who think you have slaved for hours, when in reality, all you need to do is plonk stuff in and put your legs up and read the papers while sipping on Darjeeling, but lets not break illusions, hmmmm?

The Ingredients:

Eggs - 5 beaten
A cup of chopped, chiffonaded herbs - I used basil, coriander and parsley here - the basil was frozen, which is why it looks limp, but that doesn't matter because, the flavour is still fresh
A handful of peas - I use these mostly for visual effect, I sometimes also use chopped, diced coloured peppers
Chopped chillies - 2 or however hot you want this to be (you may eliminate this altogether, but I just love the chilli kick)
A small can of baked beans - I have used Druk, but Heinz on any other brand is as good
1 small chopped onion or scallions

Method:

In a small wok, kadhai, skillet, heat a table spoonful of oil (I use olive, any vegetable oil will do, though), add the onions/ scallions and chillies and cook until translucent. Do not let it brown. Add the herbs, peas and baked beans, mix well and cook for a minute or two. Beat eggs well, add some salt and pour the beaten eggs over the baked beans, peas, onion mixture. Reduce heat to really low, cover and let it cook.

When the eggs are set and not runny, take off the lid and turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.

When the skillet has cooled enough to be managable, invert over serving plate carefully, ensuring it does not break.

Slice and eat with warm toast.

I think the herbs and the chillies make all the difference. This is like a mouthful of soft eggs, flavoured with herbs, with a chilli zing, mixed with baked beans. This is enough for 4-6 people and makes a great leftover. I use the leftovers to make grilled sandwiches.