Frittatine

These appetizers get the award for cuteness. And they taste great too. It's a simple frittata made with spaghetti and cooked in a mini-muffin tin, then topped with a little pesto and tomato sauce. A friend named Diana found these on the blog "Foodalogue" and offered them at a recent reception. They were gone quicker than you can say "frittatine," a word that means more than one small frittata. 

Italian lesson of the day: frittata-singular; frittate-plural. Tiny frittata-frittatina; plural frittatina-frittatine. 

Frittatine (From Foodalogue)

printable recipe here

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup crumbled bacon
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 lbs. mozzarella shredded
8 eggs beaten
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, shredded
salt and pepper
1 lb. thin spaghetti
sauce for topping

Directions:
1. Saute garlic, bacon and peas. Reserve to side.

2. Crack spaghetti in thirds, boil to al dente and drain.

3. Mix beaten eggs with cheeses, s+p, and fold in garlic/bacon/pea mixture.

4. Add drained spaghetti and mix.

5. Fill greased mini muffin tins.

6. Bake in 350 oven for about 10 minutes

7. Cool.  Top with marinara and pesto sauce

Notes:

When you add the pasta to the egg mix, the cheeses will melt.  It will be easier to fill and mold them into the muffin cups if you allow the cheese to cool off a little and get tacky.

You can make these in advance and either refrigerate or freeze them in a baggie.

Bring to room temperature and then reheat in oven before saucing. (I reheated in a microwave for about 10 seconds and it held its shape perfectly.)

It’s a good buffet item because they can be served at room temperature.

If you use a larger muffin mold, it makes a lovely first dish or lunch with a salad.