It looks like an omelet. Tastes like quiche. And behaves much nicer in your skillet during the cooking process.

Known as a frittata, this Italian-style omelet offers the perfect solution for when you have too many eggs on hand. The dish can be served hot or cold — and eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But unless you grew up around food-pushing Italian grandparents, chances are great that you haven’t experienced the rapture of this fluffy egg pie, which the Spanish happen to call a tortilla.

Jenny Flynn of Bay Park recalls eating frittatas at a very young age, when her late grandfather whipped them up weekly for family drop-ins. It was a recipe that he adopted from his father, who emigrated from Naples, Italy. “Since my grandfather passed away in October, our family members are trying to keep the recipe alive. Now my brother and cousins also make them.”

Flynn, a MetLife financial advisor and board member for The Center, learned how to make frittatas in Connecticut during her early teens — but admits to taking a “refresher course” from her mother when visiting back East over Christmas with her partner, Ticia.

“We’ve since made three of them for a gathering of friends in San Diego,” she says. “And they all thought it was great.”

Traditional Italian frittatas generally contain three key ingredients in addition to the eggs: asparagus, pepperoni and grated Parmesan cheese. Flynn’s handed-down version, however, calls also for green peppers, garlic, onion, oregano and cayenne pepper. “The flavors burst in your mouth and go very well with a glass of red wine,” she says.

Unlike omelets, the eggs are not folded over, but rather flipped once in the frying pan to achieve an evenly cooked disc — a challenge that took Flynn some years to conquer. “If you can do that part, the rest is a piece of cake.”

Flynn advises using a spatula to loosen the outer edges and center of the eggs once they are half cooked — and then sliding the frittata out of the pan and onto the spatula. “You then take a deep breath and flip,” she quips.

She also recommends using thin to medium size spears of asparagus, diced into pieces no larger than your baby fingernail. And when the frittata is fully cooked, Flynn inverts the skillet onto a serving dish rather than risk tearing it through other means of extraction.

A completed frittata can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. And it can be consumed cold or by heating it briefly in the microwave. But Flynn says the flavors ring through best when in eaten at room temperature — just like she remembers enjoying at her grandfather’s kitchen table.

(serves three)

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups diced fresh asparagus

1/2 cup sliced pepperoni, each piece quartered

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced green bell peppers

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 tablespoon each of parsley and oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: With a fork, beat the eggs, Parmesan cheese and spices in bowl and set aside. Sauté onions and green peppers over medium heat until browned. Add the asparagus and pepperoni and cook until soft. Then add the minced garlic and continue cooking for about two minutes. Pour the egg mixture into an eight-inch skillet and gently disperse the ingredients with a fork. Cook until the bottom half becomes firm. Flip the frittata and continue heating until eggs are completely cooked. Remove immediately from pan to serve or refrigerate.