Garbage Can Frittata

I know this isn’t the most appetizing name for a dish, but that’s what the boys in my house (my husband and my son) have named it. They usually take care of any leftovers we have by taking it the next day for their lunches, but once in a while, things accumulate in the refrigerator and I get a chance to do this. I made a Garbage Can Frittata a few weeks ago, and the boys went so crazy over it, they made me do it again to be able to post about it. That frittata included pepperoni, cream cheese left from another recipe, spaghetti left from dinner a few nights earlier, peppers and onions leftover from fajitas, and frozen peas. For some reason, they just thought it was so good and we decided that maybe we should start making this every Saturday for lunch! Now this is NOT for those things that are beyond hope and have “gone bad”, as they say. This is using things that you’ve had and accumulated during the current week. I bet both of my grandmas would love this one (they both survived the Great Depression) since it uses up leftovers and is VERY economical. There really isn’t a recipe – you just use what you have in the frig.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Garbage Can Frittata

Put in pie plate or Quiche dish that is sprayed with non-stick spray:

Anything leftover in your refrigerator, such as:

Cooked potatoes or pasta

Cooked veggies and/or sliced onions (you could cook the onions in the pie plate a few minutes before putting the other ingredients in)

A cooked meat of some kind

Any type of cheese, shredded or cubed, about a half cup or so

Add:

6-8 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper and/or herbs if desired

Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until set.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

I used 6 eggs for this one, but if you have a lot of ingredients, you could add 1 or 2 more. Then bake it 5-10 minutes longer.

This one has shredded chicken, onions, and peppers from fajitas, sliced black olives, last nights sliced chicken sausage, a bit of shredded cheddar, and frozen peas. Remember – this is whatever you have leftover from dinner this week.

It ended up being a pretty colorful frittata. The eggs don’t seem to cover everything, but they do in the end.

After baking, it’s golden and puffed and beautiful – all from leftovers.

This makes a great lunch or dinner  – maybe with a green salad.

These frittatas change every time I make them, and yours will, too. It’s a delicious way to use up those leftovers and change them up. If  you’re sneaky about it, no one will ever know!