Sausage-and-potato is such a popular combination the world over. We find it in the German farmer’s breakfast known as bauernfrühstück, the Peruvian snack called salchipapas and in revuelto gramajo, an iconic breakfast in Argentina and Uruguay. Then, there’s zuppa Toscana and Dublin coddle. The list goes on and on and on…
Why do sausages and potatoes go so well together? Because sausages are packed with flavor and potatoes have this distinct ability to soak up flavors. Cooked together, it’s like doubling or tripling a meagre amount of sausages by using potatoes as a carb-laden extender without sacrifing on flavor.
I like to start making sausage-and-potato frittata by frying wedges of unpeeled potatoes until the edges are nicely browned and crisp. This gives the potatoes better texture and flavor. If you prefer not to fry the potatoes, you may boil, bake or steam them. And you don’t have to leave the unpeeled either. But you do have to cook them before they are mixed with the egg. The 20-minute baking time is simply not long enough to cook raw potatoes all the way.
What I do with the potato wedges, I do with the sausage slices as well. They don’t really need to cook long on the stovetop but just long enough to allow them to render fat in which to cook chopped onions.
The potato wedges and sausage slices, along with the chopped onion, are divided between two lightly oiled baking pans. Eggs are beaten with salt and pepper, and poured over the sausages and potatoes. Into the preheated oven the baking pans go where the frittatas cook with both bottom and top heat turned on.
The baking pans are pulled out of the oven, the frittatas are smothered with shredded mozzarella and the last stage of the cooking commences. Once the cheese melts, the frittata is ready to be cut and served.
Cheesy potato and sausage breakfast frittata
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cooking oil
- 300 grams potatoes rinsed, scrubbed and cut into wedges
- 250 grams Spanish chorizo (or other spicy sausage like Andouille) sliced into rings
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 6 eggs
- salt
- pepper
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven (top and bottom heat) to 375F.
- Lightly brush two 6"x8" baking dishes with cooking oil.
- Pour the remaining oil in a frying pan and heat.
- Fry the potato wedges until cooked through and the edges are browned and crisp.
- Divide the fried potato wedges between the two baking dishes.
- Reheat the remaining oil, spread the sausage slices and cook over medium heat until a little fat has been rendered.
- Add the chopped onion, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onion pieces turn translucent.
- Add the sausage-onion mixture to the potatoes in the baking pans.
- Beat the eggs with a few pinches of salt and pepper, then pour evenly over the potatoes and sausages.
- Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked through.
- Take the baking pands out the oven and sprinkle mozzarella on top of the frittatas.
- Bake for another five minutes to melt the cheese.
- Cut into squares or rectangles to serve.
