This recipe is inspired by kuku sabzi, an amazing Persian style frittata packed full of fresh green herbs and aromatic cinnamon, cardamom and cumin. Traditionally the recipe should also contains a few tiny dried rose petals, but those are harder to come by so I’ve left them out of this recipe; feel free to add a sprinkling of these ground up, if you have them. This is an easy recipe but you need a bit of patience to pick, wash and chop the fresh herbs.
Here I’ve added chard to the mix as well as some feta cheese to make it a perfect lunchtime meal or light dinner with a salad of your choice on the side. The recipe is inspired by Najmieh Batmanglij, a fantastic Persian food writer.
Kuku sabzi reheats quite well in the oven, simply cover with tinfoil to prevent it from drying out.
Ingredients
Serves 2-4
- 50g butter
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 1 bunch chard, washed (about 175g)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 3 tbsp chopped walnuts
- 3 tbsp chopped dill
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 Eggs
- Black pepper
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled roughly
- Olive oil
Remove the stalks from the chard and dice them finely. Roughly slice the leaves and keep them to one side.
Melt the butter in a 9-10” non-stick frying pan. Add the onion, chopped chard stalks and a pinch of salt to the pan and cook gently for 10 to 15 minutes until soft.
Now add chopped chard leaves and cook for 5 minutes until wilted. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool slightly. Now add all other ingredients, giving it a good mix.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the non-stick pan. Pour the mixture in and cook for 10 mins on a low heat. Transfer the pan to your preheated grill and cook for a further 3-5 mins until the surface has browned.
Invert onto a board or a plate and enjoy with a tomato or green salad.
