The perfect snack: Pumpkin frittata muffins

These frittata muffins are great as a snack in-between meals (ditch that bag of crisps!). You could have 2 – 3 with a little side salad for a light lunch or take them to the next BBQ or casual get together with friends and family. Use different veggies and herbs to create new flavours – it’s hard to go wrong with this recipe!

Makes 8-9 muffins and takes about an hour including cooking time.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 250g ricotta
• 6 eggs
• 500 g pumpkin
• 100g Parmesan cheese, grated
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• Salt & pepper to taste
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• 9 cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup parsley

Utensils

Muffin tray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Cut pumpkin in small pieces (1-2 cm squares), place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender.
3. In the meantime, mix ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, turmeric, salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Coat muffin tray with olive oil using a brush (or paper towel if you don’t have a brush).
5. Remove pumpkin from oven and distribute evenly to muffin trays (don’t press down).
6. Spoon egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Place cherry tomatoes on top (prick them at the top with a knife or fork beforehand).
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven, cool down slightly and decorate with a little parsley.

Variations

This recipe is great for using up leftover veggies and herbs. Try with mushrooms and zucchini for example. You could also add a little bacon, onion or garlic.

This recipe is part of the Wellvess 8-week arthritis program. Our program is packed with delicious anti-inflammatory recipes, cooking tips, latest research on supplements, exercise tips and a forum to connect with others. All recipes have a section like the one below, highlighting anti-inflammatory properties of the ingredients.

What’s good about this recipe?

Eggs are a nutrient rich source of at least 11 different vitamins and minerals. A US study showed egg consumers have higher intakes of vitamins A, E, B12 and folate compared to non-egg consumers. Eggs are an important source of high quality protein, especially important for vegetarians.

Curcumin, a substance in turmeric, may help to reduce inflammation. Several studies suggest that it might ease symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, like pain and inflammation. In one study, turmeric worked about as well as ibuprofen for reducing pain. Other compounds in turmeric have also been found to be anti-inflammatory, and it’s thought that these components may act synergistically with each other and/or curcumin to block inflammation.

Parsley is a rich source of vitamin A and weight for weight has as more vitamin C than oranges. It is rich in carotenoids, phytochemicals that are associated with a lower risk of developing some cancers and heart disease, and improved immunity.

Tomatoes offer fibre and vitamin C and an antioxidant known as lycopene (which gives the tomatoes their red colour). Lycopene functions as an antioxidant by preventing damage to our body’s cells, which may otherwise increase the risk of cancer.

Note- Tomatoes are part of the nightshade family which some people believe trigger arthritis flares, but there’s limited scientific evidence to support this theory. However if you want to test the theory, try cutting these vegetables out from your diet to see if your symptoms improve.

Extra virgin olive oil is the highest grade of olive oil and one of the healthiest oil choices with a high level of monounsaturated fats, natural antioxidants, phytosterols and vitamins. The traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in virgin olive oil, has been shown to offer some protection against chronic diseases by reducing pro-inflammatory mediators. Virgin olive oil contains numerous phenolic compounds that exert potent anti-inflammatory actions. Of particular interest is the phenolic compound oleocanthal, shown to possess similar anti-inflammatory properties to ibuprofen.

Originally published here