For people who want breakfast to be filling, the main challenge is how to add variety to a menu that quickly becomes bogged down in eggs and more eggs.

Fried, poached, scrambled or soft-boiled, an egg is still an egg. It’s not until we add other ingredients that breakfast gets interesting.

Omelets and breakfast burritos fill this need, but so does the frittata, the Italian answer to the omelet. While there is nothing tricky to preparing a frittata, it seems to have an undeserved reputation for difficulty that keeps people from making it.

As is the case with an omelet, egg forms the backdrop for a frittata, and the remaining ingredients are matters of a cook’s whim and what’s in the refrigerator on a Sunday morning. But rather than be rolled up like an omelet, a frittata is served open-faced, like a pizza.

Because a frittata can dry out while it cooks, the assortment of ingredients must include a fair amount of cheese. Italian frittata recipes often include leftover spaghetti for just this reason.

Any cooked meat and any appealing combination of herbs and cheeses are fair game as ingredients. Onion and pepper frequently turn up in a frittata as well. Be generous with the other ingredients as they must balance a skillet full of whisked eggs.

The frittata can either be flipped in the skillet or the top can be finished under the broiler.

For folks who don’t feel comfortable with wholesale experimentation, here’s an easy frittata recipe from the September Gourmet. The salmon could be traded for ham or chorizo, and other ingredients could be added and subtracted.

Smoked-salmon and cream cheese frittata

—-

8 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil

2 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon, chopped

Whisk together eggs, milk, chives, pepper and salt in a bowl

Preheat boiler.

Heat oil in a 12-inch ovenproof, nonstick skillet (if handle is plastic, wrap it in a double layer of foil) over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Pour egg mixture into skillet and scatter cream cheese pieces on top, then cook, lifting up cooked egg around edges using a spatula to let raw egg flow underneath, until frittata is set on bottom and egg is almost set but still moist on top. It takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Sprinkle salmon over frittata, then press on salmon lightly and shake skillet to allow salmon to settle into top.

Broil frittata about 6 inches from heat until set, slightly puffed and golden in patches. It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Cool 5 minutes, then loosen edge with spatula and slide onto a large plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.