Sausage, White Bean & Tomato Frittata with Balsamic Braised Greens

I have said it before but I will say it again; I absolutely adore breakfast for dinner, especially frittatas! They are so easy, cheap and you can throw anything you want into them. This particular frittata was inspired by ingredients I had out to make homemade pasta and then I got lazy, ha! One of my favorite pastas is sausage, white bean and mixed greens. It's an incredibly earthy, hearty and decadent pasta dish and it makes for an equally awesome frittata. My husband eats my frittatas all the time and he said this one was the BTD (best to date). I used huge, creamy white beans that are marinated in a spiced olive oil, fresh basil, tiny, sweet cherry tomatoes, sharp pecorino and my favorite crumbled sausage. I used a locally made sweet Italian sausage called 5 Knives from Vermont Smoke & Cure, click on the link to see their gorgeous heritage, pasture raised pigs. Instead of including the greens inside the frittata I sauteed them with olive oil and garlic, then braised them with balsamic vinegar and
added in a touch of red pepper flakes at the end. They were bitter, salty, slightly sweet from the reduction of balsamic and had a tiny bite of spice. Eating all of these elements together, suspended in soft, fluffy eggs was...perfection! I served this perfection with locally made Italian style bread, toasted and slathered with our favorite organic butter! Bread and butter is one of my all time favorite things, and I think it's the perfect companion for eggs, even for dinner. I do have a confession: I love to slather my bread even further with olive oil mayo and siracha...oh yes! In Mexico mayonnaise goes on everything and I picked up an affinity for it with eggs while I lived there, give it a try!

Ingredients

Frittata

3 Whole organic or farm raised eggs
3 Organic or farm raised egg whites.

White Beans

1/4 Cup pasture raised 2% milk
1/3 Cup pecorino romano cheese, grated.
1/2 Cup organic cherry tomatoes, halved.
2 Links pasture raised Italian sausage, casings removed, crumbled.
10 Fresh, organic basil leaves, roughly chopped.
1/3 Cup marinated white beans, I used Divina giant white beans in vinaigrette, my grocery store sells them because they are all natural, no preservatives and the can is BPA free. If you cannot find these, regular good quality cannellini beans will work just fine.
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.
Local bread, sliced for toast.
Butter, for toast.
1 Organic clove garlic, peeled and chopped in half only.

Greens

4 Cups organic mixed greens, I used Olivia's Organics saute blend .
1 Tbsp olive oil, for cooking.
1 Organic clove garlic, minced or grated.
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a round, shallow oven proof pan with parchment paper, set aside.

In a small frying pan brown sausage crumbles in a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper while cooking. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine, eggs, milk, cheese, tomatoes, beans, basil, browned sausage, salt & pepper. Whisk till combined. Pour mixture into the parchment lined pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until eggs are set and edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

While frittata is baking, in a large saute pan over medium heat, heat olive oil and add in garlic and saute slightly, watching carefully that it does not burn or brown. Add in greens, salt & pepper and saute till completely wilted. Add in balsamic and cook for 4 minutes or until the vinegar evaporates. Add in red pepper flakes and remove from heat.

While frittata is cooling, toast bread. While bread is hot, butter and rub with raw, halved garlic. This creates an intensely flavored garlic toast without the fuss of making real garlic bread!

Serve frittata warm with buttered garlic toast and top with braised greens, a little humble taste of Tuscany!