I don’t usually get jet lag, but all the traveling this summer has caught up with me. I am on London time in California and California time in Shanghai. I am sleeping when everyone else is eating and eating when everyone else is sleeping. My biological clock is totally out of sync.

I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night–eyes wide open and stomach growling. Determined to not fill up with a bowl of cold cereal, I’ve been making variations of this frittata for a quick and delicious midnight meal.

It’s not unusual to make frittata with cooked pasta in Italian cooking. The pasta adds body and depth to a simple egg dish. A wedge of this frittata keeps you full for a long time. This is also a good way to use up leftover pasta. (In this case, it was extra pasta from last night’s macaroni and cheese.) It’s best to use pasta that hasn’t been tossed in sauce, so you can control the flavors of the frittata. But I’ve done it with spaghetti tossed in marinara sauce before and it was fine.

There are a lot of great flavors packed in this simple dish. The salty parmesan and sweet basil strike a perfect balance. The bottom of the frittata–the side in contact with the sizzling pan–is golden and crusty. The center is soft and gooey from the eggs and ricotta cheese.

You can serve this hot or at room temperature. Sliced into small wedges, it will work as an appetizer. You can also serve it with a side salad with a glass of champagne for a fancy brunch.

This dish is obviously full of possibilities for adaptions. You can use any kind of pastas, cheeses or herbs you want. Penne with tarragon and goat cheese may be nice. You might even want to add some chopped meats and vegetables. But I like to keep it as simple as I can–especially at 3 o’clock in the morning.