Frittata with borage and walnuts - Frittata con borragine e noci - Fritaja s boražinom i orasima

I always saw these strange and hairy plants growing scattered around in leafless winter garden, but I never ate borage before. I was hesitant to taste it! But at the end my curiosity has won and during one of our evening chats with my mother I suddenly opened my heart to this wild plant.

It taste better then spinach, you don't need to boil it too long and despite plenty of hair on its leafs this plant is so tender and delicate. I like quick and easy dishes and I immediately thought about early spring frittata with some crumbled walnuts. Sounds good, right? And it really is...so if you are lucky and you find this wild plant, don't escape from it. It can be cooked in so many ways and it is very healthy too.

And I adore its blu indigo flowers that bloom during coldest moths and don't fear the frost. Actually this winter is the mildest we have had in last years and I hope it will not snow in March or April!

Mini cherry tomatoes and scamorza cheese frittata in whole wheat flour crust - Frittata di mini cherry pomodori e scamorza in crosta integrale - Omlet od mini cherry rajčica i scamorza sira u kori od integralnog brašna

Birds are still not on the wire, trees are still full of green leafs and these last summer days are still hot and bright! Last weekend I spent with my family again and I fully enjoyed these free moments. I  walked in the forest and enjoyed the generosity of our garden. It is so full of plants and trees, but I like it this way, wild and free. 

Before first September rains ruin all green shades and leafs become soggy and loose their form, the garden is still offering all its richness of colours and flavours. This year the production of tomatoes was enormous, even these small cherry tomatoes continued to ripen day after day and while walking in the garden it was impossible not to eat some directly form the plant.

These little red balls are so interesting and decorative and their intense redness gives warm touch to every dish. Some of them are already frozen and I will use them during winter months added to a vegetable or legume soup. What I have prepared now is a kind of union between frittata and quiche with some cheese, little mint and greek yogurt. Practically I have opened my fridge and invented something that turned good and tasty.

Frittata with artichokes – Frittata con i carciofi - Fritaja s artičokama

When I decided to cook my very first artichokes I was little scared. I didn’t know how to start cleaning these so big and so dangerous vegetables. My first artichokes were the Sardinian artichokes with so sharp thorns that can terrible hurt your fingers! So I spent my first half an hour for cleaning just four artichokes and then I do it again and again and it became so natural to me. Now I need less time to do it, but I’m still very careful when I do it, especially until I cut the thorns from the leaves and the petals.

Here are some advices for the beginners:
When buying artichokes choose the ones with the petals well closed, this is the sign that artichokes are fresh. The stem should be long and wide, so you can use it, because it’s edible too.
To avoid hurting yourself, start with Romanesco artichokes that have no thorns.
Before you start cleaning the artichokes prepare the large bowl with cold water and 2 -3 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar. Put cleaned and peeled artichokes into the water to avoid that the vegetable oxidize.

Use gloves if you don’t want to get your hands dyed.
Cut of the stem about 1cm under the globe and peel it with the knife. Put the pieces into the water.
Remove the external petals and peel the globe with the knife until you remove all hard parts of the globe. Cut it into two halves and remove the internal hair and thinly petals, because they can also have some small thorns. If you need entire artichokes, gently open the petals and remove the hair and central petals with the teaspoon. Fresh artichokes should have very short hair or even no hair at all. Put clean artichokes into the water.

It will take more time to clean the artichokes, then to cook them. This is incredible, but it’s true! These big vegetables are so delicate and tender inside!