A frittata is a fantastic vehicle for the many green things that come online in the spring, especially asparagus. I like including potatoes because they give the frittata more substance while still allowing the asparagus to be the star. A handful of English peas would be most welcome in this dish, as well—add them with the asparagus.

When my asparagus is truly fresh out of the ground, I don’t even cook it, letting its natural crisp-tender texture add some texture to the frittata.

Serve 4 to 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Heat the oven to 400°F.

Peel the potatoes if their skins aren’t thin and tender and put them into a large pot. If the potatoes are bigger than an egg, cut them in half. Cover with water by a couple of inches, add about 2 tablespoons salt, bring to a boil, and cook the potatoes until they’re totally tender, about 20 minutes. Truly new potatoes, freshly dug from the soil, will cook faster. Drain and then smash them with a big fork or potato masher so that you have large crumbles of potato.

While the potatoes cook, peel and finely chop the shallots; trim off and discard the tough ends of the asparagus before thinly slicing the spears crosswise. Chop the dill.

Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 9-inch pan over medium-high. Add the smashed potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring them around a bit, until they start to crisp around the edges. Add the shallots and asparagus and sauté lightly until the shallots soften and become fragrant and the asparagus is slightly tender, about 3 minutes (don’t let the shallots get brown).

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, capers, dill, lemon zest, parmesan, and 1 teaspoon salt. Adjust the heat in the pan to medium-high, scoot the vegetables around so they are evenly distributed in the pan, and pour in the egg mixture, scraping all of it out with a rubber spatula.

Let the eggs cook undisturbed for about 1 minute. Now, using a rubber spatula or a butter knife, gently left the edges of the eggs, letting the uncooked egg mixture run over the edge and underneath to create layers of egg that will help the frittata stay light.

Let the new eggs set, and repeat until most of the runny egg is gone.

Put the pan in the hot oven to finish cooking and lightly brown the surface, which should take another 10 minutes or so; you can check by poking the center of the frittata to check for runny eggs.

Run a small knife around the edge of the frittata and then flip the pan onto a cutting board and encourage it to slide out. If a bit sticks to the pan, no worries, just piece it back together. Let the frittata cool for at least 10 minutes, and then cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

*True new potatoes, those that are freshly dug from the field and haven’t been “cured” and thus have extremely thin and delicate skins that pretty much rub off, aren’t easy to find unless you go to a farmers market or you grow them yourself. Any small potato will work in this recipe, you just may want to peel them.