Mini Frittatas and Spinach and Cheese Pie for Passover

This is the first year Miss Yunks has done some of her own Passover cooking.

I always keep Passover for eight days.  It’s not that hard to not eat any leavened bread, wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oats.  Even though my usual diet is heavily reliant on bread and pasta, it’s really not hard to avoid it for eight days.  I like the tradition of eating special foods for one week and I like teaching others about the traditions, and that it’s not hard nor a big sacrifice to observe the eight days of Passover, or seven days for some.  A lot of traditional Passover foods are made with special Passover ingredients, like matzah meal and cake meal.  These foods tend to taste very similar.  I don’t want to eat the same tastes three times (or five, who are we kidding) a day for eight days, so I’ve realized that plenty of foods don’t need matzah meal, or flour, to taste great.  And, for the first time, I prepared these dishes for myself instead of relying solely on Mom.  I wanted to have food ready to bring to work for breakfast and lunch on the days following the seders because I knew I wouldn’t be cooking those nights.  Before the seders, I prepared my breakfast and lunch for the week.

I thought to make mini frittatas and spinach pie.  I’d never made either before, but I knew neither recipe would require matzah meal and I was positive they’d be nutritious and delicious.  I’m using Passover as an excuse to focus on protein and vegetables.  I baked the frittatas in a muffin pan.  Once they were completely cooled, I wrapped two together to bring for breakfast.  I made a big spinach and cheese pie, without any crust, and cut slices for lunch.  The other benefit? Both recipes are very simple!

Mini Frittatas

Ingredients
2 T Butter
Chopped veggies: I used red and green peppers, grape tomatoes, and spinach
Cheese to taste: I used goat cheese
10-11 eggs, beaten together

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.  Put a small lump of butter on the bottom of each muffin cup.  Evenly distribute vegetables.  If using frozen spinach, defrost and drain thoroughly.  I microwaved my frozen spinach and used paper towels, a collander and my hands to squeeze out as much water as possible.  Put a little cheese in each cup.  Last, pour some egg in each cup.  Pour carefully to avoid any overflowing.  If desired, sprinkle a little more cheese on top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Spinach and Cheese Pie

Ingredients
1 T Butter
16 oz Frozen Spinach
12 oz Ricotta cheese – I used the full fat version, Trader Joe’s is the best!
4 oz Feta cheese – I used fat free, only because the low fat had weird ingredients
3 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan

Directions
Butter a 9×13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350.  Put spinach in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in small increments until defrosted.  Transfer spinach to a large paper towel and squeeze out extra moisture.  Repeat until spinach is drained.  In separate bowl, mix ricotta, feta, and eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  Mix in spinach.  Spread evenly in pan.  Sprinkle Parmesan on top.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until top is lightly browned.