SILVERBEET FRITTATA

HILARY WILSON has been living in New Brighton for six years now and has crammed her 10sqm garden with edibles. She’s also a happy volunteer at the New Brighton Community Gardens, where she has her own plot (approximately 20sqm), which is never without silverbeet ready to pick – she can’t remember the last time she had to buy any. She likes the plain green variety for its tenderness and ‘Bright Lights’ for its vivid colours.

Being by the beach, the soil is sandy, so she’s continually piling on compost, rotted manure, seaweed and whatever else comes to hand, and sometimes uses sheep pellets and lime too, to enrich the soil.

Hilary’s daughter loves this delicious frittata – the secret is in the cream – on her weekly visits and Hilary serves it with a fresh green herby salad picked from the garden.

Ingredients • 1 tablespoon oil

• 2-3 mushrooms, chopped • 2-3 large or several small stalks silverbeet, stalks discarded, leaves washed and chopped • 2 eggs • 50-60ml cream • salt to taste • white pepper to taste • ½ cup grated tasty cheese • salad and crusty bread, to serve

Heat the oil in a cast iron pan over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the silverbeet, cooking until it is just wilted.

Mix the eggs and cream in a bowl, season with salt and pepper then pour over the silverbeet mixture and cook gently without stirring until nearly set. Sprinkle with the cheese and some more white pepper and grill until the cheese is bubbling. Serves 2