Merguez Lamb Sausage Frittata

Frittata is the penultimate dish for using what you have in the fridge or pantry - especially leftovers. Like with stir fries, you almost cannot go wrong. Here I used leftover potato, and kicked it up with Merguez, a spicy Arabic lamb sausage.

1 Yukon Gold potato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 links Merguez (Arabic) lamb sausage (I got from Whole Foods), about 1/3 lb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 sweet yellow onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, minced

3-4 fresh sage leaves, minced

1/2 package (about 4 oz) baked Sriracha flavored tofu (I used Trader Joe’s), cut into 3/4-inch pieces

About 3-4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1/4 lb Swiss or Jarlesburg cheese (or other favorite) cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 eggs

1/4 cup half and half or light cream

about 1/4 lb fresh Ricotta cheese

Sriracha or other favorite hot sauce

1 Tbsp fresh chives

Preheat oven to 375F. If potato is previously cooked, set aside. Otherwise. microwave the potato in a covered dish with a light splash of water, for 2-3 minutes, or until just softened. Set aside.

Meanwhile sauté the onion for 5 minutes in a cast iron skillet or other oven-going skillet. Add the sausage and continue cooking until the sausage browns and cooks through.

Add the garlic, thyme, sage and tofu and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Add the potato and spinach and cook a few more minutes allowing some of the potato to brown up a bit. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over sausage potato mixture.

Whisk together the eggs and half and half and pour over sausage mixture in skillet. Cook over medium heat to just set the sides of the egg. As the egg cooks, dot the surface of the dish with small spoonfuls of Ricotta. Garnish with Sriracha and chive.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until cooked through and nicely browned. Serves 4.

Cook's Note: Mergues is a spicy Middle Eastern lamb sausage typically flavored with harissa. I found it fresh at Whole Foods.

You could substitute chorizo or andouille sausage if you'd like.

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