A proper autumn afternoon today, the kind where the light goes low and golden early and you feel the season settling in for good. I took the coffee out to the step and the neighbor’s cat came to keep the appointment, then I spent a satisfying stretch of the day doing something I’d been saving for a rainy one: sorting the seed packets I’d saved from the summer into an old tin, the way my grandmother used to. Beans in one section, herbs in another, a few tomato seeds I wasn’t sure would still be any good but kept anyway because they cost nothing to hope for. I wrote the year on each packet, which I never used to bother with and always regretted by spring.
Since the kitchen was already warm, I made a simple supper out of what was left — a proper frittata with the last of the eggs, some of the market greens that were about to go soft, and a few shavings of the pecorino that’s been living in the fridge too long. It’s the kind of dish that feels like cheating because it’s barely any work, but it ate like a real meal, all golden on top and set just right in the middle, and I had a slice standing at the counter with bread. There’s a particular satisfaction in a meal that rescues a wilting handful of greens instead of letting them go to waste.
While it was in the pan I got to thinking about the word “recipe” itself — it comes from the Latin recipere, “to take,” the old way doctors opened prescriptions: recipe, “take thou.” So every recipe I’ve ever scribbled down is secretly still a doctor’s order, which tickles me more than it should. It made me think of the other old habit I lean on for finding things quickly: on a computer, grep will search right through a pile of files for a word or two, the way I flip through the tin for “basil” or “zucchini” and let my thumb find it faster than my eyes. Same instinct — don’t reread everything, just go straight for the name you know. The tin is shut now, the cat’s gone home, and I think that frittata might deserve a second slice.
Recipe: Greens and Pecorino Frittata
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- a splash of milk or cream
- a large handful of greens (spinach, chard, or whatever’s left), roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 40 g pecorino, shaved or grated
- salt and black pepper
Preparation
- Beat the eggs with the milk, a good pinch of salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Warm the olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook gently until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the greens and cook until wilted, a couple of minutes.
- Pour the eggs over the greens, scatter the pecorino on top, and cook over medium-low heat without stirring until the edges are set, about 5 minutes.
- Finish under a hot grill for 1–2 minutes until the top is golden and the middle is just set. Let rest a minute, then slide onto a plate and slice into wedges.