Caramelised Red Onion, Pepper and Goats Cheese Crustless Quiche / Frittata

This was made to take on a picnic, along with some other 'fancy' goodies...

It's delicious chilled, served with a large, mixed salad, on a warm day when you don't want hot food.

Obviously you could serve it warm too, if you prefer, with buttery new potatoes, or roasted squash and maybe some griddled asparagus or long courgette slices.

This will serve six as a main meal, or more if you want to have it as part of a buffet type spread (or picnic!) and it's incredibly easy to make. What's more, you can change the fillings and toppings to suit your tastes, or what you've got in at the time.

If you're counting calories, this is from 216 to 248 calories for a sixth serving (as in 1/6 of it, not your sixth helping!), or from 162 to 186 calories for an eighth if you'd prefer a slightly smaller portion for less calories (depending on the cheese used - see ingredients).
 [Calories in square brackets].

Ingredients

• 1 red onion (100g) [41]
• 1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper (150g each) [78]
• 2 tsp oil (not extra virgin olive oil) [90]
• 1 x 15ml tbsp balsamic vinegar (should generally be gluten free, or you could use apple cider vinegar) [17]
• 6 medium eggs (UK medium, 58g each) [526]
• 200g Greek Yoghurt (e.g. Total, full fat) [192]
• 25g Parmesan (or similar) finely grated [98]
• Handful fresh basil leaves [2]
• Salt and pepper [1]
• 125g soft goats cheese* (e.g. Abergavenney (V) / Sainsbury's French), or you could use feta cheese instead [389 / 198 / 238]
• 100g cherry tomatoes, halved [20]
• Oil spray (e.g. Bertolli pump spray), about 8 sprays (or use a small tsp oil) [32]

*Calories vary significantly in cheeses, check the nutritional value and recalculate if necessary. I have used 133 / 158 / 190 calories per 100g for Abergavenney / Sainsbury's French / Lighter Feta.

Method

You can either cook this in a dish in the oven, as a 'crustless quiche', or you can cook it frittata style in a pan over the hob, and finish it off under the grill (broiler) - however, if you do the latter, you'll need to remove the caramelised onions and peppers to a seperate dish and clean the pan first, then spray with oil and add the egg mix then other ingredients otherwise the caramelised balsamic vinegar remains in the pan are likely to make your frittata stick to the bottom and burn.

To make this as a 'crustless quiche', pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5 / 180C and take a dish (mine is about 7 inches by 9.5 inches, but round or square is fine) and spray with oil (or brush it around) and set aside.

Top and tail the onion, cut in half and peel, then slice from top to bottom and throw into a  good non-stick pan with the oil on a low heat to start cooking. 

Core, quarter (from top to bottom) and de-seed the peppers, and then slice 3-4mm thick. Add to the onions in the pan, turn up the heat a little and continue to cook until the peppers have softened and the onions are starting to caramelise. 

Add the balsamic vinegar, and continue to toss or stir, until it has evaporated and the peppers and onions are a little darker and a little sticky. Set aside to cool for a few minutes, and then spread over the base of the oiled dish (or add to the eggs if you're making this as a frittata).

Add your eggs to a bowl, and give your yoghurt a brisk stir with a fork, to break up any lumps, then add to the bowl with the parmesan and salt and pepper to taste (I use a scant teaspoon of salt for our tastes) and whisk together to combine. 

Give the basil leaves a quick chop, and add to the eggs, stir in, and pour over the onions and peppers in the dish. Give the dish a quick gentle shake to combine everything, then crumble over the goats cheese, and dot the tomatoes over the top, cut side up.

Carefully transfer to the middle of the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until just set in the middle. Remove from the oven, and if you should want the top a little browner, put under a hot grill (broiler) for a few seconds (it should take less than a minute, keep an eye on it!).

I like to serve this cool, as a summer dish with a nice big salad - you can choose to serve it however you prefer whether that's hot, warm or cool. This is a good, simple base for a crustless quiche, packed with protein to keep you full, and you can mix and match the contents according to whatever you have in, or fancy putting together.