Samphire frittata with warm, lemony courgette salad recipe

Simon Stallard
·2 min read
Samphire frittata with warm, lemony courgette salad  - Susan Bell 
Samphire frittata with warm, lemony courgette salad - Susan Bell

Here is a quick veggie supper. Marsh samphire can be foraged here in Roseland in the summer months. It’s famously served with fish, but it goes great with eggs, too. You can serve the frittata on its own but, for a more substantial meal, it’s great with this warm salad.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 35 minutes

SERVES

Four

INGREDIENTS

For the frittata

  • 250g new potatoes, sliced

  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil, for frying

  • 6 large eggs, beaten

  • 50g samphire

  • Handful of tarragon, leaves finely shredded

  • 100g soft goat’s cheese

For the courgette salad

  • 3 tbsp olive oil

  • 2 shallots, sliced

  • 3 yellow courgettes (or green if you can’t find them), halved and cut into chunky slices

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 6 small vine-ripened tomatoes, halved or quartered if large

  • 2 rounded tbsp chopped oregano leaves

  • Juice of ½ lemon

  • 150g runner beans, thinly sliced on the diagonal

METHOD

  1. For the salad, heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the shallots for five minutes until softened. Add the courgettes and garlic, and fry for three minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, half the oregano and the lemon juice, then reduce the heat and cook for five minutes, or until the courgettes are just tender but retain a little bite and the tomatoes have started to break down.

  2. Stir in the runner beans, add the remaining olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, then warm through. Keep the salad warm while you make the frittata.

  3. Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 minutes or until tender, then drain in a colander.

  4. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan. Add the drained potatoes, and the beaten eggs, most of the samphire and the tarragon. Lay the remaining samphire elegantly on the top.

  5. Crumble over the goat’s cheese and season with salt and pepper (remembering the salty flavour of the samphire, so you won’t need much salt).

  6. Preheat your grill. Cook the frittata for seven to 10 minutes on the hob over a medium heat, enough to set the bottom, then finish under the grill until just set all the way through. Add the remaining oregano leaves to the salad and serve it warm with the frittata.

Recipe from The Hidden Hut by Simon Stallard (HarperCollins, £20). Order a copy from books.telegraph.co.uk.