French Omelette
I’ve been dreading writing up my French omelette recipe, mostly because there are so many experts out there with opinions around techniques and tips and I’m worried that what I’m about to tell you will be terribly wrong. Except, it’s the technique that works for me, so maybe I’ll just call it a Sophie Omelette and a day.
So, this type of omelette is cooked quickly, still loose/gooey on the inside, rolled out of the pan and should not take on any brown coloring on the outside. You can add some simple fillings (chopped herbs, cheese) but it’s not the sort of thing you’re going to stuff with a diner’s worth of sausage and vegetables. It’s a simple way to cook 2 eggs if you’re bored of the other hundreds of ways to cook eggs that are out there. One which I find particularly delicious - a mash up between your standard, dryer scramble (the outside) and soft scramble (the inside), plus yes it’s technically French so you feel very fancy and accomplished when you master how to cook it.
And one word on that - you will mess it up. It will stick to the pan, it will fall apart, it will be overcooked or undercooked. Luckily, even if you mess up the results are still edible (and probably delicious - they’re eggs!) so try as many times as you need and find your own adjustments to get it just right.
French Omelette
2-3 eggs
Salt and pepper
1 T butter
Fillings (chopped herbs like chives, parsley, dill - some grated cheese - or even some Boursin) - optional
To cook this you’ll want a small nonstick pan (also called an omelette pan, for this very reason), a silicon spatula, and a plate for it to end up on ready to go.
Whisk the eggs with some salt and pepper in a bowl until the yolks and whites are well combined.
Put the pan over medium high heat. Add the butter and swirl into the pan until it’s just melted. You do not want the butter to be sizzling here - just melted.
Add the eggs - now we’re going to work quickly. You want to let the eggs start to set at the bottom of the pan. As you see the opaque layer form, scrape the bottom using the spatula so an almost ribbon of egg moves, revealing the bottom of the pan. Then, tilt the pan so some of the raw egg on top fills the space and begins to cook in its place. You want to keep doing this all over the pan - scraping the bottom and tilting to fill with raw egg - until most of the loose egg on the top is gone and you have this sort of graceful pile of ribboned cooked egg (that still covers the whole bottom of the pan). This all happens within 2-3 minutes. (To note, what you don’t want to happen is to scrape the bottom of the pan and then not have enough loose egg on the top to move in and fill it. The whole bottom of the pan must be covered. If it’s not, just scramble those bad boys and try again tomorrow).
Now’s the time to add your prepared fillings on top, if you’re adding any.
You want to let the omelette now sit for 30-60 seconds, with the goal to firm up the bottom so it won’t break when you roll it. While you’re waiting, start gently scraping the spatula around the sides of the pan under the egg, loosening the omelette from the pan so it will move freely when you’re rolling it.
Now, the goal is to fold the omelette into thirds, which will create the roll.
Put the spatula under the egg closest to the handle. Get it under there and gently turn 1/3 of the omelette over onto itself (towards the opposite side of the pan from the handle). Now 1/3 of the omelette should be folded, and 1/3 should be left.
Bring the pan over to the plate that your omelette will end up on - you’re going to hold the handle angled up and will be rolling the omelette away from the handle and eventually on to the plate.
So hold that handle angled up, and with the spatula encourage the folded third of the omelette to fold right onto the last uncovered third. Then, tilt the pan right over the plate so the omelette gracefully rolls/falls right onto it, which it should do seam side down.
That’s it!
Again, it will take some practice. I had to watch some YouTube videos for the technique, but once you get it it’s so quick it’s something you’ll come back to over and over again.