Eggs are the ultimate healthy convenience food. A poached egg over wilted spinach leaves, cooked in just five minutes, is incredibly nutritious and tasty. When I was little we had our own hens, so at least once or twice a week we had rich ochre-yolked eggs for dinner. Sunday teatime usually comprised a boiled egg with salad, dipping spring onions into cool creamy mayonnaise and tucking butterhead lettuce leaves between slices of homemade brown soda bread.
Another favourite was a Spanish omelette: leftover potatoes fried until crispy, then sunk into an omelette with fried onions, a few slices of pepper and curly parsley.
The traditional 1980s Spanish omelette was soon replaced by the frittata. It was usually flecked with sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and other examples of Italian deli produce that flooded Irish supermarkets in the 1990s. Most cultures have their own version of this egg-based dish; this week’s recipe is kuku or kookoo, a Persian frittata.
Typically the kuku has less egg than a frittata and is cooked very slowly on a low heat. It sometimes has turmeric, courgette, broad beans, grated potatoes or onions. My favourite version is kuku sabzi, a real celebration of herbs. Large handfuls of coriander, dill and parsley are all finely chopped and folded through an egg mixture, giving the finished dish a dramatic green colour and an amazingly fresh flavour.
This dish is ideal if you grow your own herbs. Parsley grows fantastically well in Ireland. But any combination of herbs can be used, including tarragon, chives and mint. Young light greens such as spinach, lettuce and even leeks can also be shredded and added. If you don’t find chopping mountains of herbs therapeutic, then throw everything into a food processor and blitz until chopped but not a smooth paste. You do want to keep the texture of the leaves. I usually use most of the stalks, as they have as much flavour as the leaves, although I discard tough stalks.
Traditionally, nuts such as walnuts could also be folded through, and tart barberries scattered on top. Barberries are dried berries with a sharp, acidic, citrus-like flavour. You could substitute dried cranberries, but I like to serve this with fresh pomegranate arils. The beautiful ruby-red jewels add the necessary acidity and texture to complement the fluffy kuku. The addition of baking powder lightens and aerates the kuku. Like so many traditional dishes, there are many versions, handed down from generation to generation.
This dish makes a great, simple supper, served warm or at room temperature. Leftovers work well sandwiched between flatbread or a warm pitta bread. It makes for an ideal packed lunch. It’s usually the food of choice for Sizdeh Bedar, an outdoor picnic held on the 13th day of the Persian new year, to celebrate the end of the holidays. The green herbs symbolise rebirth, the eggs fertility and happiness.
As well as being tasty and easy to make, this dish is also a great source of nutrients, with plenty of greens, and protein from the eggs. It stands in stark contrast to the heavier frittatas, which often have cream or cheese. I’ve suggested serving this with thick Greek yogurt and pomegranate seeds, but a nice smooth hummus or garlic-spiked tzatziki, even though not traditional, tastes great with it too.
KUKU SABZI: SERVES 4
The five ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 105g mixed herbs (I used 35g coriander, 35g flatleaf parsley and 35g dill)
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 200g Greek yoghurt
- 1 pomegranate, halved, seeds set aside in a bowl
From the pantry
- Olive oil
- 1tsp baking powder
- Salt
- Pepper
Method
Finely chop all of the herbs, discarding any stems that are too tough.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl until combined. Add the baking powder, herbs and spring onion. Season well with salt and pepper, then whisk everything together until combined.
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium, non-stick frying pan. Pour in the egg mixture and lower the heat. Cook gently for 10 minutes, then gently flip over so the other side can cook for another 10 minutes. Cooked slowly and gently, the frittata will puff up and be a light golden colour. Once cooked, flip on to a plate, divide into four and serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a generous scattering of pomegranate arils.
- Every Thursday, we'll tweet the five ingredients from @lillyhiggins and @irishtimeslife so you can have them ready for Friday. Email givemefive@irishtimes.com with your suggestions for recipes
