A Beautiful and Delicious Breakfast
Fear Not
For the longest time I was terrified of attempting omelets for my family, let alone a French omelet. I love to cook but there was just something about it that seemed so easy to mess up. I was afraid I’d end up with some torn up or dried out mess that would need to be covered in ketchup to get down.
Behold, the French Omelet
For years I’ve been making the French version of scrambled eggs, which I absolutely love. They’re creamy and never dry without even adding massive amounts of cream or cheese. The French omelet uses some of the same techniques that are used when making French scrambled eggs but rolls them up into something that is far more visually impressive.
Preparation and Patience
As with most things, if you want something done right, you need to be patient. That’s not to say this recipe takes a lot of time. Once you know what to do, it only takes about fifteen minutes, but if you try and rush it, you will end up with with another recipe called the “meh” French omelet (or French omelette for those of your joining us from across the pond).
Tips and Tricks for making a French Omelet
Slow heating and constant stirring is to the two main things to remember. We want to end up with smooth, small curds that we can level out and roll up. If the pan is too hot when you add your eggs to the pan, you’ll instantly end up with large curds before you can even start stirring. If you stop stirring, you’ll end up with the same issue.
Be sure you’re using a non stick pan. Egg proteins bond with a regular pan when heated leaving the next to impossible to scrub off crust that we all dread. You want to be able to smoothly roll this up so any sticking is going leave you with a decidedly unappealing French omelet
Last year I got the Tramotina Professional 12 Inch Fry Pan and I absolutely love it. It works so well it even replaced my crepe pan and at a shockingly good price. As it’s a pan intended for heavy restaurant use you can be sure it’ll last you for years to come.
Without further delay, on to the recipe!
Perfect Feta Spinach French Omelet
Equipment
- non-stick pan I'm using a 12 inch non-stick pan but you can use smaller by going with fewer eggs.
Ingredients
- 7 eggs
- 1.5 tbsp salted butter
- .25 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
- 1 small finely diced tomato
- 2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Prep your spinach and tomato before you start the egg cooking process. Chop your spinach in fine pieces that can be easily sprinkled.
- Cut the sides off of your tomato and removes seeds.
- Cut each tomato piece into quarter inch slices.
- Cut the tomatoes crosswise so that you have a small piles of quarter inch pieces.
- Crack you your seven eggs into a bowl and stir well with a whisk or fork until it's a consistent yellow color. Egg whites cook at a slightly different temperature than the yokes so if it's not mixed well you'll end up with white chunks in your omelet instead of the smooth finish we're looking for.
- Heat one tablespoon of butter in a twelve inch non-stick pan at medium heat. Depending on your stovetop you might even want to start at medium low. Take your time with this. We don't want the pan so hot that we get instant large curds when we add our eggs.
- Once your butter just starts to bubble pour your eggs into the center of the pan.
- Immediately start stirring you eggs, and scraping down the sides. It's important that you don't stop stirring. We want small curds and a smooth texture.
- Once about 90% of the "wetness" is gone from your eggs, scrape down the sides one more time and use your spatula to smooth out the surface and form it into a round shape.
- Add salt and pepper and sprinkle surface with feta and spinach. Take the pan off the heat and cover for one minute.
- Remove lid and remaining butter to the sides of your eggs that you'll be folding from. Carefully begin to roll and fold the eggs starting from one side using your spatula to push the butter along the edge as you go.
- When you're about two thirds folded stop and fold the other side over.
- You should have a seam that runs down the middle. We want the seam here so that when we flip it over it's hidden and we're left with that beautifully smooth surface.
- push the omelet to one side of the pan and flip it onto a plate carefully. You can shape the ends carefully for better plating if desired.
- Garnish with tomatoes or anything else you'd like.
- Time to enjoy! This recipe makes a good amount to be shared with someone else and presents well when cut in two.
