( Omelette with wild herbs )
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Ingredients: 4 eggs, 2 leeks, 1 onion, nettle tops, bits of bramble, 1 sprig of wild fennel, chervil, wild spinach, 60g of fresh pecorino, olive oil, butter, salt and pepper to taste. |
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Cooking time: about 20 minutes (ten per side). With lid on and medium heat. |
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Preparation time: 20 minutes |
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***: The average recipe. If you are not hopelessly clumsy, but rather appreciate, from time to time, trying yourself at the stove, and you've already got some appreciation from your friends. These recipes will be a sure success! |
Slice finely two leeks and a small onion. Add the nettle tops, a few tender tips of bramble, a sprig of fennel, chervil and some of the wild spinach; stir the content of four eggs with the help of a fork. Do not whip too much, because otherwise, while cooking they will tend to harden, and you want to prepare a fluffy omelette, not a brick of herbs and eggs!*
Add salt, a pinch of pepper and 60gr of fresh grated pecorino. Add the whole to the herb already cleaned and prepared in advance. The best thing would be to break and tear them into small clumps with your fingers, but avoid those horrible food processors: a good, sharp knife and a good cutting board are perfect. Mixers and blenders are enemies of the culinary arts. The shock produced by the blade, whirling at breakneck speed, is terrible! The surrounding oxygen is emulsified with the food, making it mushy and easy prey of oxidation! Avoid them as much as you can. Cook the whole in a hot frying pan greased with a little oil and a knob of butter. **
The flame will be large but not too high, to leave our omelette the time to cook inside without burning the parts exposed to heat. The ideal would be a break-flame, as usual. Cover with a lid and cook, checking occasionally. Turn the omelette in the pan, without the aid of any tools, it is not easy. But this is a topic that I would like to deal with you specifically. Maybe later. You can use the same lid, or a larger one with a solid handle.
Make sure that there isn’t too much liquid in the pan. Turn off the heat, and move to the sink or over a large surface, easy to clean. Put on two oven mitts. Have no hesitation and, holding firmly and slightly compressed the pan and the lid, straighten your arms and rotate with firmness and decision. Be quick and effective.
Place the pan on the surface, and with the help of small but strong vibrations, let the omelette, you have skilfully turned successfully, drop. To begin with, it is always better to prepare small omelettes, then increase their size with increasing practice. You are almost done, friends! Continue to cook until both sides have taken on a beautiful golden colour. Dry it on paper for bread, or preferably absorbent paper. Serve hot.
* If you whip long and too intensely, the eggs will eventually emulsify more and more thickly, subtracting space to the many useful small air bubbles, which usually make a omelette soft and fluffy.
** Extra virgin olive oil, when combined with butter in its early stage of melting, at not too high temperatures, preserves its light and compact colour, avoiding scorching and taking that blackish tone definitely unpleasant.