Survival Skills for the Vegetarian Expat

Mahalo Chicos,

Egg in a sour dough bread bowl was an idea I came up with on the fly. After my gym time, I’d pass by this ‘confeterria’-bakery- on my way back home. So I decided to check it out and the smells of the freshly baked crispy bread and ‘bizcochos’ - cookies and the like- were so tempting that I had to eat with my eyes and by everything I could possibly carry. It has allot to do with my gym time and being ravenously hungry after.

One of the items I had to purchase was a round sour dough which I decided to make into a bread bowl. Since its still rather warm, I thought to create an frittata instead and use the bread bowl as the crust.

I paired it with a simple Mediterranean style ensalada and some fresh cut pineapples for dessert. It turned out to be such a hit with my other half that he wanted to make certain I write the recipe down.

My initial idea was to start taking photos of my dishes, since we finally have our digital camera cable fixed. So I hope you bare with me as this is all rather new for me.

Prep time: less than 10 minutes

Cook time: about 45 to one hour

Serves: up to four people or two people with leftovers

What you’ll need:

1. One medium sour dough bread shaped like a bowl
2. 4 egg whites and 1 yolk
3. 1/2 c whole milk
4. 1/4 c diced red onions
5. 1/4 c roughly chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
6. 1/2 c diced green olives
7. 1/2 c fresh ricotta cheese
8. 1 small container of creama queso acetunas (cream cheese with olive flavor) or plain cream cheese or any cream cheese you have in your area with some flavoring that is not sweet.
9. A few cherry tomatoes cut in half
10. Dried red pepper flakes
11. Freshly ground sea salt and black and white peppercorns
12. Fresh Basil
13. Some extra virgin olive oil
14. Some balsamic vinegar
15. 1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese

What to do:

1. Cut a whole on top of the bread so that you can create a bowl shape. Scoop out the inner parts of the bread to create a deep whole. Ensure that you do not create a whole at the bottom.

2. Preheat the oven at 100 Celsius for 15 minutes. You just want to cook the bread bowl so that its a bit crispy, but not too tough. Spread some olive oil on the bread bowl and then place it in the already warmed oven.

3. While the bread bowl is in the oven prepare the egg mixture. Place the eggs in a medium bowl and beat until mixed. Then place milk a bit at a time into the eggs.

4. Once the milk and eggs are thoroughly mixed, add the ricotta and mix well. You want it to be a bit on the clumpy side, unless of course you prefer a more smooth mixture in that case you can use a food processor. Since this dish was an new idea I decided to make it a bit ‘rustico’.

5. Take the already prepped filling of cherry tomatoes, cilantro and red onions and fold into the egg mixture. Then, mix in the creama queso, add the dried chili flakes and some fresh ground sea salt and white and black peppercorns.

6. Your bread bowl should already be done by now. Remove it from the oven, and slowly ladle some of the egg mixture inside. Then top it off with some fresh parmesan cheese.

7. Now place the entire thing inside the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. After about 15 minutes, take it out, take a fork to the middle to see if it comes out clean. If not and the egg mixture still looks soft, continue to bake. Being careful not to burn the bread as you can see I did and not over cook the eggs. Which I made sure I did not.

Allow to cool once done and cut in any shape you desire. Garnish with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, balsamic and some fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza