Serves 8 As A Dinner Side Dish, More As A Cocktail Party Appetizer

This is an interesting contribution to our firehouse cooking contest. Lieutenant Harry Paretchan of the San Francisco Fire Department combines a couple of Italian cooking methods that are common in the City by the Bay. A frittata is a broiled or baked Italian omelet, and a torta is a baked sort of cake. He does both with this wonderful dish that is easy to make, inexpensive, and delicious hot or cold.

Normally I do not give you recipes that contain instant food products or dried soup mixes. However, with firehouse cookery you are sometimes up against the wall and may need to fall back on some prepared ingredients. He uses a very fine product from Knorr, and since I have used it as well, I can hardly complain about Mr. Paretchan not cooking from scratch.

Cook the rice in the broth and water (see recipe). When cooked, place in a large bowl and add the melted butter. Mix well and add the cottage cheese, salami, soup mix, and salts and pepper. Beat 9 eggs and stir into the mixture. Add the drained spinach and mix well.

Grease an 11x16x1-inch baking dish with the remaining but ter. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on the bottom of the dish. Add the rice mixture and smooth out the top. Beat the remaining 3 eggs and pour over the top of the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake, uncovered, at 325° for 35 to 40 minutes. After cooling a bit, cut into small serving pieces.

The lieutenant claims that the dish sets up better if it is made a day in advance. A quick reheating is no work at all.

From <The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American>. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.