This Is How Everyone's Favourite Diva, Ritu Dalmia, Does Dinner

Chef Ritu Dalmia runs the Italian specialty eatery Diva in all its divine forms – Diva Italian at GK-II, Café Diva in GK-I, Diva Spiced at Lodhi Road, Diva Piccola at Hauz Khas Village and The Café at the Italian Embassy’s Italian Cultural Centre in Chanakyapuri, as well as Latitude 28 in Khan Market and Depot 29 in Safdarjung Enclave. She has been awarded the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the Government of Italy in 2011. She published her food travel cookbook, ‘Travelling Diva: Recipes from around the World’ in 2012, featuring her favourite recipes from European, Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines and her stories behind them. Chef Dalmia continues to host a TV show by the same name on NDTV Good Times.

Here she makes a no-fuss Fritatta for LBB’s {The Recipe Project}

Olive Oil – 20 ml Medium Onions Sliced – 2 Red Pepper Sliced {in matchsticks} – 1 Eggs – 4 Milk – 40 ml Pepper – To taste Cheese {Gorgonzola or strong cheddar} – 25 gms Thyme or Parsley – A handful

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and peppers to the pan and lower the heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes,  ensuring that the onions do not turn brown as that will make them bitter. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with milk and pepper until frothy. You could also give it a quick whizz in the blender. Pour the egg mixture over the onions  and pepper and and cover the dish. Now set the flame to medium to low. Cook the frittata for 3-4  minutes until it is almost set. Spread the crumbled Gorgonzola cheese over the frittata, and cover and cook for another 2 minutes. To finish, place the frittata under the grill for 2 minutes. It will puff up slightly.

A frittata, the Italian-style omelette, is a classic way of using leftovers from last night’s dinner. Fitting, because, as they say, an Italian mama will never allow anything to go waste! Frittata is cooked on the stove in a skillet, but finished under a grill. I particularly like the sharp taste of Gorgonzola cheese with the sweetness of onions that go into making this dish. However, on a working night when the fridge is more or less empty, you can make a frittata without the cheese as well, or substitute gorgonzola with any other cheese you might have handy.

N.B. All recipes belong to the chef and are published with permission by Little Black Book. Reproduction of this recipe for print and circulation is not permitted.