frittata - my first crack

I've always wondered about frittata's. Is it better or easier than an omelet? The logic behind it is fairly straight forward, but I find myself usually flipping the egg or scrambling it all together. It's so much quicker when you are hungry. Well..after years of pondering.

I spent a good hour searching the Internet and looking thru cookbooks. It seemed like almost everyone had a tip or trick that made their version better. Hot pan, medium pan, stir egg, flip edges on egg, stir in vegetables, saute first and leave vegetables in, cook stove top, cook then broil. The list just kept going, even including the additions of pasta! Where do I begin.

Well I kept it simple and discovered what I figured is a fail safe method. Searching the chowhound boards, I would occasionally see a mention of Marcella Hazen. Her basic idea revolved around completely baking the frittata; no stove top or anything. Hmmmm! Would this be a trick? Turns out it was a perfect method for a first time like me. I didn't have worry about setting the bottom or broiling it to finish.

EVOO in a non stick pan over medium heat.
Add diced onion and red bell pepper - 5-8 mins.
Add shredded zucchini, 1/2 diced tomato, and 5 diced mushrooms - cook out moisture.
Remove veggies and let cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Crack 6 eggs in a large pyrex bowl and whisk with 2 or 3 tbls of milk
Add freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano and cheddar (3/4 of a cup or so)
Mix in vegetables.
* Key secret stage*
Butter a 9 inch round cake pan.
Give everything a final mix before pouring in pan.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 20-30 minutes (mine took around 26) until everything is set.
*Optional step - place under broiler for a minute or two to brown the top (although apparently this isn't very accurate, as I discovered a browned frittata is just wrong!)
Remove from oven and either flip onto a large plate or cut like a pie and serve.

**I also added some cumin, coriander, and paprika while cooking the veggies.

Now before anyone asks about the pictures, or lack there of. My Canon may be starting to see its finally weeks, after taking nearly 8000 photos and traveling around Central America, it decided to take the photos but not actually store any weird...I know.  So really, there is no evidence I actually accomplished this....