Roasted spring onion + cauliflower frittata

Tasmania is well renown for it’s wilderness and outdoors, with an amazing landscape of rugged cliffs jutting out over deep blue seas and mountain ranges with hidden lakes shrouded in foggy mystery. That said, there is so much of the state – which is relatively small; it takes only 2.5 hours to drive from Hobart in the south of the state, to Launceston in the north – that I have yet to see. One of the charms of the state -though it may be viewed as a hindrance to some – is that a lot of the beautiful landscape is quite remote, which means that to get there you either need to walk/boat/or fly in. For me, I think that adds to the natural beauty and makes it that much more special when you trek a few hours into an isolate beach to find that you have the breathtaking landscape to yourself.

Lately, B and I have been doing a lot of bushwalking to see some of these stunning places. I think “bushwalking” is a very Australian term, so before it conjures up images of us trekking through thick vegetation and mud with a campus in our hand, trying to navigate the contour lines on a map, the bushwalking we have been doing is probably more akin to what the rest of the world would call hiking or trekking. Our longest walk was 5.5 hours – no overnight walks, yet – and while some have been through fairly thick vegetation or up steep inclines, all have been on a formed track. 

Side note – I still haven’t got around to buying a case for my camera, three years on, (it’s exclusively a stay-at-home food photography camera at the moment!) so these were all snapped with my phone – apologies for the image quality!

Mount Wellington – this imposing mountain offers a beautiful backdrop to the city, and is reached in just a short 15 minute drive from the CBD. There are numerous walking tracks here and we trekked along one a few weeks ago with Maggie – unfortunately nearly all of the other walks have been in National Parks with all bear the same rule – no dogs. While the sun was shining in the city, we were met by moody clouds and light rain when we arrived at the Springs, half way up the mountain and the starting point for our walk. It was actually a nice reprieve though (I hate doing any form of exercise in the heat!) and created a lovely setting for a few photos – I was kicking myself I hadn’t packed my DSLR!

Hartz Peak – one of my favorite walks so far, this track, located South of Hobart in Hartz National Park, crossed over a plain and up a few short steep sections before a final rocky trample to the very peak, where we were greeted by breath-taking views of the park. We managed to take a bit of a breather and eat our lunch before the darker clouds started to roll in and we made it back down just before the rains came.

Cape Raoul – this is one of a few day walks on the Tasman Peninsula in the south-east of the state, all offering dramatic scenery and stunning coastlines. The track starts with a short ascent through bush scrub before emerging at a clearance with quite a sharp drop – the sea cliffs climbing high up over the water below. The track then works its way around the coast edge for the most part making this walk incredibly scenic. Somehow I had in my head that it was a shorter walk that was fairly flat, so I got up early and went along to a Pilates class which included (alot!) of squats beforehand – a decision I regretted when – four hours into the walk I realised we still hadn’t began the climb to the top of the mountain we’d walked down to reach the cape. Needless to say, my legs were quite tender the next day!

South Cape – This is pretty much the farthest Southern point in Tasmania (and hence Australia) that you can easily get to without having to walk for days. It’s a two hour drive, and then a two hour walk (though we did the return trip in just over three hours as we left quite late in the day). The walk itself is nothing to spectacular or difficult – it’s mostly flat with duck-boards along a long plain making up a good portion of it – but the end goal, that is the beach and coastline, is well worth it. We camped at the camping grounds at the start of the track this time, but next time we plan on camping at the beach at the end of the track – it’s a truly remote and untouched place I’m keen to get back to soon.

When we go for a long bushwalk, I often make us up a frittata, it’s easy to pack up in a container and no juices or liquids to spill out in the bag, and we can eat it with our hands so no need for cutlery. It’s also filling, and importantly, really tasty! 

This has been one of my favorite creations, and we have made it a few times since it’s first run. The spring onions caramalise when roasted, reducing some of the strong onion flavour and instead adding a sweeter element, and the cauliflower and egg combination is almost reminiscent of a bread and butter pudding – albeit the bread. You obviously don’t need to go on a bushwalk to make this, though if you do have a similar outing, this would be a great dish to take along – it can be eaten hot or cold so it’s the perfect dish to cook up for dinner or take along to a picnic.