Spanish Egg Torta

This morning I wanted to use up some veggies so I decided to create a version of a Spanish egg torta. The following came together easily & turned out pretty well - I could see this dish working nicely for brunch, and all the veggies could be prepared the night before for ease.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of diced yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 cup of diced orange bell pepper
• 1/2 cup of diced baby carrots
• 1/2 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 cup of thinly sliced red onion
• ~10 spears of asparagus cut on the bias to 1/4" pieces
• 1/2 cup crumbled bacon
  
• 8 eggs
• 1 sheet of pre-frozen puff pastry dough for the crust
• 10" tart form
• salt & pepper
• red pepper flakes
• extra virgin olive oil
  

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Pull the puff pastry dough out of the freezer and let it thaw under a damp towel to keep it moist. Sauté the veggies in a little olive oil just until soft, seasoning with a few red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. I start with the veggies that require the longest cooking time - carrots, then red onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, asparagus, at the end, etc., knowing the veggies will continue cooking in the oven. Remove them from the heat and put to the side in a small bowl. Add crumbled bacon to the mixture. Roll out the puff pastry dough and press into a 10" tart form. Crack 8 eggs into a bowl and season well. Combine the cooled veggies & bacon with the egg mixture and pour into the tart form. (I let the veggies cool a bit to avoid awkwardly curdling the eggs, although it's all going in the oven anyway.) Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until done!

My thoughts:

*A sliver of this torta might be nice with maple french toast, and fresh berries for brunch. I love Linda's frothy orange julius for breakfast and will get a recipe for that up here soon, too :)