Sausage & Mozzarella Frittata

Weekends and holidays are the best time for a warm, delicious hearty breakfast. Few breakfast recipes make me happier than this Sausage & Mozzarella Frittata. It’s rich and filling and never fails to make eyes light up when I pull it out of the oven and plot it in the middle of the breakfast table. The amazing part is that it’s also fairly easy to make! A little mixing, a little slicing, a little cooking, and you’ve got a gorgeous breakfast to make great memories over.

Baby spinach is a favorite of mine. Not only is it delicious and full of all the vitamins and minerals you expect from leafy greens, it also comes in really convenient packaging. I just buy the washed and trimmed bags or boxes of baby spinach meant for salad and cook with them. To me, it’s a great timesaver and a no-excuses way to make sure I get the healthy veggies my family needs snuck into rich dishes like this. When I’m feeling ambitious, I sometimes roughly chop the baby spinach which makes getting a bite on your fork a little easier, but it’s certainly not necessary.

Other kinds of leafy greens work as substitutes in this dish, if you would prefer to try your own favorite. The taste and texture may change a bit, but that’s the fun of cooking and experimenting to see what suits your palate best. I have used frozen spinach after it is thawed and well-drained (I really squeeze the water out) and then roughly chopped. Fresh works best, though, in my opinion.

Sausage & Mozzarella Frittata

3 from 56 votes

Recipe by Add Recipes Course: Breakfast

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

22

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 Pork breakfast sausage, ground

• 8 oz 8 Fresh mozzarella (one large ball), sliced in 8-10 pieces

• 8 8 Eggs, large

• 5 oz 5 Baby spinach (1 package), optional: roughly chop

• 1/4 cup 1/4 Heavy cream

• 1/4 cup 1/4 Parmesan, grated

• 1 tablespoon 1 Olive oil

• 2 cloves 2 Garlic, peeled and minced

• 1 tablespoon 1 Oregano, dried

• 1 teaspoon 1 Salt

• 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 Cayenne

• Salt & black pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
• In large oven-safe skillet or oven-safe frying pan, brown ground pork breakfast sausage over medium to medium-high heat, breaking into small crumbles as it cooks.
• While sausage cooks, use a separate mixing bowl and beat together eggs, heavy cream, Parmesan, oregano, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Once sausage is cooked and crumbled, reduce heat to medium-low to medium. Add olive oil and minced garlic to pan. Stir and allow to heat for 30-60 seconds.
• Add baby spinach to skillet and stir into sausage as much as possible. Season baby spinach with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. As baby spinach wilts, continue to stir into sausage mixture.
• Turn off burner heat. Stir egg mixture briefly to ensure ingredients are well incorporated, then pour egg mixture into pan.
• Stir sausage, baby spinach, and egg mixture together for 60 seconds, scraping bottom of pan so all ingredients are well incorporated.
• Place skillet in preheated oven. Cook 10 minutes, then remove skillet from oven and add fresh mozzarella slices, distributing evenly around top of frittata. Return skillet to oven and cook additional 10-12 minutes, or until egg mixture is set and cooked.

Notes

• Ground pork breakfast sausage may be substituted with other types of ground sausage. Ground pork breakfast sausage has high fat content and should not require oil in which to fry. Other types of ground sausage, like chicken or turkey sausage, have lower fat content and may require extra oil in which to fry.
• Any aged Italian cheese may be substituted for Parmesan, like Asiago, Pecorino Romano, or Grana Padano.
• Half and half, whole milk, or sour cream may be used as substitutes for heavy cream.
• Baby spinach may be substituted with any dark leafy green like kale, spinach, chard, or collard greens. Frozen spinach may be used, but it is recommended to thaw, drain, and chop first.
• Fresh buffalo mozzarella is recommended for this recipe, but may be substituted with American style low-moisture mozzarella, though results will be different.
• Recipe calls for baby spinach to be added whole, but baby spinach may be roughly chopped or done in a fine chiffonade which will speed cooking time and may be preferred for more uniform bites of finished frittata.
• Additional seasonings, herbs, or spices may be added to egg mixture as suited to your taste.

Mozzarella is a big part of the finishing flavor of this dish, so I have big opinions on the mozzarella used. The old school American mozzarella I grew up with is sort of a dry, rough cousin to fresh buffalo mozzarella. They both have their uses! American style mozzarella is great on pizza and makes a really nice melting cheese when shredded. However, fresh mozzarella, the type typically packed in water, or with at least a bit of water around it, is going to put this dish over the top. The price is a bit of a splurge, and I know it’s tough to find sometimes, although most major supermarket chains carry it nowadays. If you’ve never tried it before, give it a go for this recipe. The gooey, creamy way it melts is second to none!