Green Tomato Frittata

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: About 1 hour
Rating: 4(147)
Notes: Read community notes

This is an adaptation of a recipe I came across in “The Savory Way,” by Deborah Madison. The acidic green tomatoes are nicely balanced by the neutral flavor of the eggs.

Featured in: When Red Tomatoes Are Scarce, Go Green

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Ingredients

1pound green tomatoes
Salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
Cornmeal for dredging
3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼cup finely chopped onion
2garlic cloves, green shoots removed, minced
1tablespoon slivered fresh basil
1tablespoon snipped chives
8large eggs
2tablespoons low-fat milk

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Core the tomatoes and slice half of them about ⅓ inch thick. Set aside. Peel the remaining tomatoes by dropping them in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then transferring to a bowl of ice water. Cut in half, squeeze or scoop out the seeds, and chop fine.
Step 2
Season the sliced tomatoes lightly with salt and pepper, and dredge lightly in the cornmeal. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy, nonstick 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the sliced tomatoes for two to three minutes on each side, just until lightly colored. Remove from the heat and set aside. If there is cornmeal in the pan, clean and dry the pan.
Step 3
Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan over medium heat, and add the chopped onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, three to five minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Stir together until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and stir in the chopped tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have softened and are beginning to stick to the pan, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Stir in the basil and chives.
Step 4
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and milk together in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper (I use about ½ teaspoon salt). When the chopped tomatoes have cooked down, turn the heat up to medium-high and pour in the eggs. Swirl the pan to distribute the eggs and filling evenly over the surface. Shake the pan gently, tilting it slightly with one hand while lifting up the edges of the frittata with the spatula in your other hand, letting the eggs run underneath during the first few minutes of cooking. Distribute the fried sliced green tomatoes over the surface of the frittata. Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook 10 minutes, shaking the pan gently every once in a while. From time to time, remove the lid and loosen the bottom with a spatula. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler.
Step 5
Finish the frittata under the broiler for one to three minutes, watching very carefully to make sure the top doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat, shake the pan to make sure the frittata isn’t sticking (it will slide around a bit in the nonstick pan) and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes, up to 15 minutes. Loosen the edges with a wooden or plastic spatula. Carefully slide from the pan onto a large round platter. Cut in wedges and serve, or serve at room temperature.

Tip

Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Ratings

4 out of 5

147 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Chelsea Hodge6 years ago

Part 1/2: So good!! I very loosely followed this very flexible recipe (adapted to ingredients I had on hand) and turned out with an outstanding frittata that was perfectly cooked and extremely flavorful. The many changes I made (just to show how flexible the recipe is!)
- Used 6 eggs since that's all I had
- Used ~3 T of greek yogurt since I didn't have milk
- Didn't peel tomatoes (absolutely fine; don't deal with this silly step!)

Meta6 years ago

Pretty good. Made a half recipe since its only my husband and myself. Found it tricky to cook it so long without burning on the bottom. I did not peel the tomato and definitely did not notice it.

Sophie6 years ago

Until we prepared this frittata, we never realized how lucky we are to have an abundance of late season green tomatoes. This may be my favorite frittata, the tart green tomatoes hold together AND balance the eggs. In response to Roxanne, we've made Martha's red tomato frittata, also quite good but a very different dish. My only problem was peeling the fruit. Even after blanching, it was a challenge. May be best for feeding three, rather than six! It's that good.

Phyllis6 years ago

For the first time I'm disappointed in the NYT cooking recipe. The fried green tomatoes need to be cooked through before they go on top of the frittata. It was good, but seemed to be a lot of work for the outcome. Fried green tomatoes are one of my favorite foods, but this just didn't seem to work together.

Chelsea Hodge6 years ago

Part 2/2:
- Used aprox 2 lbs tomatoes (prob closer to 1.75 since the fried tomatoes are so good plain!)
- Used a 12" pan since that's all I had; did adjust the final cooking time down to about 5 min from 10 due (thinner frittata due to fewer eggs and larger pan)
- Used green onions and sage instead of chives and basil - SO GOOD!
- Omitted garlic since I didn't have it
- Didn't broil at the end since I was ready to EAT and didn't want to bother.

JRj6 years ago

A really good way to serve green tomatoes, if you live somewhere where they are plentiful. I rarely have enough for this lavish recipe. Sigh.

Roxanne6 years ago

Would red and yellow tomatoes work too - not too many green tomatoes in my little city in the desert?

Myokyo6 years ago

I added a few shaves of sovrano before the broiling and also skipped peeling/seeding. Delicious!

Clyde1 month ago

I added jalepeno and sweet corn (1 ear); good additions.

Linda1 year ago

Easy and delicious. Great way to use up green tomatoes that didn't have time to ripen before the first frost. I did not peel the tomatoes and only used 6 eggs. I used about 1.75 lbs tomatoes including 2 red tomatoes that needed used up.

Karen L Davis2 years ago

No, no, no. It tastes fine, but it's waaay too much work, waaay too many steps, waaay too much time for what is basically an unfolded green tomato omelet. I've briefly boiled/peeled many tomatoes in my time, but following these directions closely did not work with an unripe tomato. And after having iced it, made no sense to retrace and try again, so just chopped and cooked it as was. It was fine. Didn't cook for anywhere near the suggested amount of time or let it rest so long.

Durk2 years ago

BEST use of leftover fried green tomatoes (which I never peel, and which are already fully cooked). Frittata are so flexible, I have thrown in leftover sweet potato or French fries, roasted veg or squash, in addition to onions of some stripe or other and garlic. Basil was good, and I added my few remaining Galina Yellow cherry tomatoes to burst with the onions before adding the fried green slices. But that suggestion of sage above sounds good. I'll try it next time!

Una2 years ago

For peeling the tomatoes Mesermiester and maybe Oxo also makes a serrated vegetable peeler. Ive been using mine to peel tomatoes and peaches for 14 plus years. Works on everything else too

Bob O'Brien3 years ago

Great recipe and wonderful meal. Using late season green tomatoes, we noticed they were very firm, also: 1 - Tomatoes for top of frittatta were tasteful and needed less coking time. 2 - Chopped tomatoes needed 2 - 3 minutes boiling time. We like eggs on the runny side and fried them for less time. Thank you.

Stavra3 years ago

Added minced bacon to onions. Removed before stewing chopped tomatoes the. Added later in tomato cooking. Added shredded cheese also. Used great recipe from the Kitchn for fried green tomatoes. Added them halfway through cooking.

Kat4 years ago

This did not work out for me because my green tomatoes were flavorless. Taste your tomatoes before starting this recipe.

Ali Litts5 years ago

We have many green tomatoes right now and this was a welcome recipe. This was my first successful frittata, mainly because I bought a good nonstick pan from Tramontina. We use seasonal veggies and have a garden so I admit (with the risk of negative reactions) that I used eggplant in place of the cooked-down green tomatoes. I breaded and fried a green tomato, which worked out great. I also added a little cheddar cheese because ... um ... it just tastes really good.

tarryall5 years ago

This needs more punch for my taste. Hot sauce is an easy answer, but cheese, capers, anchovies all come to mind. It's a nice recipe for adaptations, and it looks so pretty!

Rachel5 years ago

I stirred a bit of extra cornmeal into the batter before baking for some added texture. It turned out well and absorbed any extra liquid from the tomatoes that wasn’t already cooked off.

Tracy6 years ago

This turned out not so tasty for me. I think my tomatoes were underripe and the eggs overcooked. I’ll try it again in the future and be more mindful of these. It seems impossible with the flavorful ingredients that this would taste bad, but I managed to tank their potential.

Antonia6 years ago

This is so much healthier then the fried green tomatoes that I have seen and eaten in restaurants. I made it just like the recipe and ate the leftover the next day. Did as Martha said, reheat on low temp in oven. Delicious. Thank you Martha. I love all your recipes. You are the best. Everything you make is healthy and natural. BTW, I like it best at room temp.

Myokyo6 years ago

I added a few shaves of sovrano before the broiling and also skipped peeling/seeding. Delicious!

Chelsea Hodge6 years ago

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