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Spring frittata tastes like familiar quiche, but quicker

Recipe: Frittata Lorraine with leeks, spinach and bacon

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED APR 12, 2026

This frittata has all the goodness of a quiche Lorraine but there's no pie crust to fuss with. Debbie Arrington

Quiche Lorraine has been a brunch favorite as long as I can remember. This frittata features Lorraine’s classic flavors – but without the pie crust.

Bacon on pan — Get flat, even bacon slices by baking them in
the oven.

Baking the bacon on a sheet pan in the oven produces flat, evenly crisp pieces. The slices don’t even need flipping. Reversing the pan front to back balances cooking. But watch baking bacon carefully; it can quickly go from perfect to burnt. Thinner slices may cook in less than 10 minutes.

More tips:

Choose the right size pan; this recipe fits an 8-inch skillet. (When I tried my 7-inch pan, it overflowed.) A bigger pan produces a thinner frittata.

Make sure the skillet is well seasoned, so the frittata doesn’t stick. Let the butter coat the sides while melting.

Add spinach a handful at a time; it cooks down as it sautés.

Frittatas travel well. Make this ahead and pack it for a spring picnic or portable brunch.

Frittata Lorraine

Serves 2

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup leeks or spring onions, chopped

2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped

4 eggs

½ cup cream

½ cup milk

1 cup Jarlsberg, Gruyere or Swiss cheese, grated

¼ cup Parmesan, grated

2 dashes hot sauce

Instructions:

Frittata in pan — Right out of the oven, the frittata
is nicely brown and puffy.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Arrange bacon slices on foil and bake in oven for 5 minutes. Reverse pan position (front to back) and bake 5 minutes more. Check for doneness. Bake 2 or 3 minutes more if needed. Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

In an 8-inch oven-proof pan over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté leeks until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add spinach, a handful at a time, and sauté until cooked, about 3 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until evenly light yellow. Add cream and milk (or 1 cup half-and-half); whisk until blended. Stir in both cheeses and hot sauce. Set aside.

Blot bacon of grease and crumble the bacon into the pan with spinach and leeks. Mix lightly.

Carefully pour egg-cheese mixture into pan. With a wooden spoon, gently swirl mixture so the spinach, leeks and bacon are more evenly distributed through the custard.

Let the frittata cook on top of the stove over medium heat until little bubbles start to form along the edges of the custard.

Transfer the pan to the oven on a center shelf. Bake at 375 degrees until puffy and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool, about 5 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes spring April baking brunch picnic main dish eggs leeks spinach backyard produce produce management Sacramento gardening

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Garden checklist for week of May 10

Take it easy during that high heat – then get to work! Your garden is calling.

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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