Steamed Frittata – when to introduce eggs

The recommendations by the pediatric community about which foods to introduce in a baby’s diet and when can change following the results of new researches. That’s why the new recommendation about eggs is to start offering them to your baby even at 6 months!!

When Luca was born 5 years ago the general recommendation was to introduce the egg yolk at around 10 months and the full egg starting from 12 months to prevent any allergy. New Canadian studies demonstrate that the earlier you introduce the potential allergens, the better is.

The only recommendation that is still the same is to make sure that the egg is fully cooked until both the yolk and white are solid 🙂

The reason is very simple: under-cooked eggs may contain salmonella bacteria, which can cause food poisoning.

When you give egg to your baby for the first time, just give him few teaspoons to be on the safe side and separately from other foods that can cause allergies (nuts). That’s the easiest way to check if the egg causes any reaction.

Of course if you think your baby may have an egg allergy, consult your pediatrician.

A small number of babies are allergic to egg, but about half of these babies grow out of the allergy by the time they are three years old.

You can cook eggs in tons of ways, today I would like to share with you a very simple and delicate recipe, steamed frittata. 100% baby approved 🙂

It really takes 15 minutes total to create a fluffy and tasty steamed frittata. As I was preparing a baby recipe I used very simple and basic ingredients, but you can easily add to the mix fresh seasonal veggies finely chopped (for a toddler) or two tablespoons of any seasonal vegetable puree’ you already prepared for your baby to give extra flavor and nutrients to the recipe.

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Steamed Frittata – first baby egg

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 Tbsp milk pending your baby's age: coconut milk, breastmilk, baby formula or cow milk
• 1 leaf basil
• 1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• parchment paper

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl: the egg, the parmesan cheese, the milk, the minced basil and the olive oil.
   
2. Place a foil of parchment paper at the bottom of a steamer. Prepare a pot with some boiling water for the steamer. Pour the egg mix in the steamer on top of the parchment paper.
   
3. Cover with a lid and let the frittata steam for 10 minutes.
   
4. Enjoy!!!
   

If you want to know more about the recent Canadian study about eggs and infants, here you are the link:

https://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/infant-nourisson/recom/index-eng.php

Basically The Canadian Health Department released a joint statement about new baby feeding guidelines altogether with The Canadian Pediatric Association, The Canadian Dietitian Association and the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada. Pediatricians here in the USA are now following the same guidance.

The advice on eggs was updated based on the results of a large population-based study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2010. The researchers provided evidence to overturn the idea that whole eggs should not be introduced into the diet of a 6 month old. They studied 2,600 infants and found that feeding cooked eggs to infants at 4 to 6 months did not increase the risk of egg allergy and in fact, the findings suggest that it might decrease allergy risk.