My Nona ran a restaurant, many moons ago, in Italy. We lost her when I was small — but her food is still how I know her.

This is her frittata. Slightly changed, baked rather than flipped, but hers.

It takes very little effort and almost no ingredients, which is the point. The best Italian food never made a fuss about itself.

A meal worth sitting down for

Here's what I'd ask of you: don't make this quickly.

Yes, the oven does most of the work. But while it's in there you have fourteen unbothered minutes — and rather than checking your phone, you could set the table.

Cut a few stems from the garden. Find a candle. Put the drink in an actual glass. By the time the frittata comes out, you'll have made a Tuesday into something you'll remember.

That's the entire recipe, really. The eggs are almost incidental.

Ingredients

Serves 1–2. Double it for a larger skillet and add 6–8 minutes to the oven.

• 4 medium brown eggs
• 2 scallions
• 5 shiitake mushrooms (or any mushroom you like)
• 1 tbsp parmigiano reggiano, or a cheese of your choosing
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste

You'll need

• An 8" oven-safe skillet
• A mixing bowl
• A fork and a spatula
• Baking spray, or a little butter

Method

• Heat the oven to 405°F.
• Beat the eggs in your bowl with a fork — enough to combine, not enough to make them foam.
• Snip the scallions thin and add them.
• Slice the mushrooms and add those too.
• Season with salt, pepper, and the garlic powder.
• Fold it all together gently. A splash of milk here if you like your eggs fluffy.
• Grease the skillet well, so nothing sticks.
• Pour it in and scatter the cheese over the top.
• Bake for 14 minutes. Then leave it alone.

What to do with the fourteen minutes

This is the part I actually care about.

Make a small salad. Then set the table properly — not for guests, for yourselves.

• Something to serve it on. A frittata straight from the skillet is fine. A frittata on a handmade serving piece is a different meal entirely.
• Something growing. Three stems in a bud vase. A sprig of rosemary. Whatever's outside.
• Soft light. A candle in a holder you like, even at lunch.
• A real glass. Not the can.

Five minutes of attention, and an ordinary lunch becomes the thing you both remember about the week.

Endless variations

The base recipe forgives almost anything. Peppers. Steamed broccoli or asparagus. Spinach. Cored tomatoes. A better cheese than you'd normally use on a weekday.

Nona would have approved of all of it. She'd have used whatever was in the kitchen, and she'd have set the table anyway.

Stop saving the good things

Keeping your best wares for a "special occasion" is a habit worth breaking. Every meal is an occasion — some of them just happen to be on a Tuesday.

Browse The Gathering Table · handmade tablewares

If you make this, tell me. I'd love to know it's still being cooked.

Xox,
Meli