Tomatillo and Tomato Sausage Frittata

Golden coloured sweet cherry tomatoes go really nicely with tart green tomatillos. Throwing them into a frittata with a few handfuls of sausage makes for a filling meal in which the vegetables (or fruits to be technical) still shine.If you like tomatoes but have not yet tried tomatillos I highly recommend that you do. They come wrapped in a thin, veined, tissue-paper like covering, so they look like big gooseberries. Their flavour is distinctly tart and to me they kind of taste like already seasoned, cooked salsa made with regular tomatoes. They look like green tomatoes, and it can get extra confusing because one of their aliases is “tomate verde”, which directly translates to “green tomato” but they are sweeter and have a sight fruitiness and citrus notes that simple green tomatoes don’t have.When purchasing them in the store, look for tomatillos with a dry brownish husk. Both the husk and the tomatillo should be evenly coloured and the tomatillo should be firm to the touch with no wrinkling in its skin. The colours can vary but they are often in the range of soft to bright green.  I love the pear shape of these cherry tomatoes, they are an interesting variety with a really sweet, rich flavour but any cherry tomatoes can be a nice balance to tomatillos.Shallots are a great option for adding in an onion flavour, but they are milder and sweeter, perfect for when you don’t want that onion flavour to come through too sharply.Some chorizo, or spicy pork sausage adds a burst of flavour along with a healthy dose of protein and fats to make the frittata extra filling. It comes in cured and fresh versions in a variety of combinations. I used the fresh version here because it was all that my butcher had available, it does take a little longer to prepare because it needs to be cooked before it can be sliced, but when possible I like to buy sausage straight from the person who made it instead of an imported version. The quality control should be higher and since I have been watching too many factory farming documentaries lately, I really appreciate the peace of mind that comes from knowing the complete ingredient list and farm to table path that my food takes to get to my plate. When just using a few ingredients in a dish like this, each really has a strong influence on the outcome of the dish. Sausage is one of my favourite go-tos for adding in a lot of flavour to fast and easy recipes but the quality of meat and seasonings used can make a huge difference.Frittatas are often started on the stove and then finished there or placed in the oven to finish cooking. Instead, for my extra easy and low maintenance versions, I like to put everything into a large pie dish and place it in the oven. An option like this, with such high volume of vegetables with high water content takes longer to cook but the oven does all the work and it just needs to be checked once, about 2/3 of the way through to make sure the top isn’t browning too much.Like sausage, the quality of the eggs really comes through in a frittata. The nutrient content and flavour of eggs is highly dependent upon what the hen they came from ate. If a hen spends her days outside, wandering around munching on bugs and worms, her eggs are going to be higher in protein, omega 3 fatty acids (the essential fats we can all get more of) and a range of vitamins and minerals. Adversely, if a hen spent her life in tight confinement, eating a cheap, processed food unnatural to her, that her body probably hasn’t evolved to utilize properly, her eggs will undoubtedly be subpar. The cost of bargain priced food is paid in poor nutrition, poor flavour and cheated animal workers and animals.