(calm music)
- Hey I'm Ben, one of the chefs at Sorted Food.
And today I'm gonna show you something that is hugely
searched for on the internet because it's such a key skill
that will get dinner on the table in minutes, it's omelette.
I'm gonna show you the way that I prefer it,
the way that I do at home regularly.
And then I'll show you, arguably an even easier version.
And Mike, you're here to keep me on track
and make sure I didn't get too Chefy
I'm here for the people.
- [Ben] You are the people's people.
(calm music)
It's not really even a recipe, it's three eggs.
That I think is a good hearty omelette for one,
a know of butter, and otherwise you add what you want.
Because the egg is just a vehicle
for whatever you've got either left in the fridge,
that's on special up at supermarket,
or super seasonal or at your local market.
Wherever you get your food,
and if it's in the fridge and ready to use,
it's probably gonna fit into an omelette.
Job number one, put a pan over heat,
and get it up to a nice high temperature.
About the size of your spread out hand, I think,
is a good size for a frying pan for a three egg omelette.
Then crack three eggs into a bowl.
Couple of easy ways to crack an egg,
us the back of a table knife, tap it firmly in the middle,
stick your thumbs in and pull it apart.
Alternatively, rather than the tapping of the egg,
just crack on the side of the bowl.
Thumbs in open it up. One, two, three.
Season generously with salt and pepper,
and give it a whisk up with a fork.
Now this is where an omelette might divide people.
Personally, I prefer a really hot pan
and some colour on the outside of the omelette.
The colour gives you an extra flavour, especially when
it's made with the nob of butter so it kind of browns,
but also it's super quick and you're in control.
For that, you do want to get a bit of air into your eggs.
So I always whisk over, and you can see you're kind of
just whipping a little bit of air in there.
Gives you a light, fluffy, pillowy omelette.
And then for the flavours, whatever you're gonna
put into your omelette, get them ready now.
'Cause the cooking takes no time at all.
So today spinach, which I literally just wilted
by boiling a kettle and pouring it over fresh spinach,
and then squeezing out the liquid.
Diced up tomato, so you get rid of the wet bit,
and a chunk of cheddar I've got left in the fridge,
which we'll grate straight in the pan.
But you do you. You can put whatever you like in it.
Chopped up ham, a little bit of smoked fish,
like smoked haddock is really nice,
whatever cheeses you've got, some fresh herbs and chives.
Mix it up but, whatever you put in should already be cooked,
'cause you're gonna cook the whole omelette
literally in, probably 90 seconds.
So hot pan ready to go.
You got your grater for your cheese.
You've got your plate you're gonna serve it on.
And you've got some form of spatula to get underneath it
that is not going to melt in your pan.
First up, a nob of butter.
As it hits the pan, it's gonna foam up.
It's gonna start to turn
that nutty brown if the pan is hot enough.
Cover the base of the pan,
then put your eggs in that were already seasoned.
What you're gonna do is draw the egg mixture
from the side to the middle, and then fill in the gaps.
From the side to the middle, and fill in the gaps,
and just keep doing that.
What you get,
you can do it from different sides if you like.
Get this kind of wonderful, folded omelette,
fluffy and light on the inside
'cause you're folding layers into it.
I always go cheese in first.
'Cause that's then gonna melt with the heat of the pan.
That's closest to the heat of the pan.
Some spinach.
The challenge is not to be too generous.
As tempting as it is, you want to get a fold this.
Some fresh tomato,
and fresh basil
off the window sill.
Happens in real time, now you can see,
it starts to peel itself away from the bottom of the pan.
So get underneath, and fold over, into thirds like so.
And then the final third happens
quite literally, as you place it onto the plate... omelette!
Calm, controlled, but within about 90 seconds.
Genuinely, I do an omelette probably once a week
at home 'cause it's so easy.
If even the thought spinach is too much.
A handful of rocket, fresh herbs.
They're gonna do a great job too.
Not everyone likes the colour on their omelette.
In which case lower and slower before you fold.
If you're even worried about the folding, although I promise you,
do it two or three times, you get the hang of it.
Then I'll show you an even easier method now.
For this easy, no fold omelette,
some might even call it a frittata for one,
then all you need to do is pre-heat your pan,
but much lower this time,
and switch on a grill nice and high.
And then crack three eggs into a bowl.
- [Mike] I dare you. You just practised, yeah.
That's why we're here, people.
- Trouble is it's not the number, I need three eggs.
Still a good quantity for a meal for one.
Season salt and pepper, whisk it up.
For fear of sounding like a stuck record,
you can put whatever you like on top of it.
For this for this really easy method,
frozen peas that I've literally just run
under warm water to defrost them,
some dice pancetta that I've cooked.
You could use smoked ham, you could use smoked chorizo,
you do you, and parmesan.
I'm deliberately keeping this really simple,
three eggs and a tiny knob of butter again.
But worth thinking about,
any other flavour can go into that egg.
Throw in a bit of harissa paste and whisk in, and suddenly
you've got this kind of spicy frittata going on.
There are so many other things you can add,
and can play with, just make it your own.
A knob of butter into the pan, eggs go in.
And rather than that drawing and folding into the middle,
you just let it do its thing.
And you can start to add all your flavours on.
Plenty of peas.
They're not really cooked. They're just sweet and delicious.
I love peas like that, really good in a salad.
Just defrost them under warm water, don't need to cook them.
I've got some bacon.
But ham,
smoked fish.
Doesn't need meat at all to be honest.
The cheese
is gonna be parmesan in this instance.
But you could dot on some blue cheese,
some goat's cheese, cheddar.
And you can just about see it
starting to cook around the edge.
But at this point, I just put it under a hot grill.
There's every chance you're watching this video and thinking
nothing revolutionary here on flavours.
And I don't intend to be.
What else goes nicely with peas? Mint.
So I'm just gonna make a little bit of sliced mint
creme fraiche with a zest of lemon.
Season it up, and you dollop that over
the omelette frittata as it comes out,
and it oozes in and it is absolutely delicious.
Parmesan bubbling and gratinating.
- How do you know it's done?
- [Ben] So you don't wanna overcook the eggs.
But what you do want it to do is kind of
puff up a little bit almost, it's not souffle,
but almost puff up souffle-like,
golden on top because of the cheese.
- [Mike] Oh hello.
- Hello, indeed.
(calm music)
Pea, pancetta, parmesan, and pine nut omelette. All Ps.
And genuinely, if anyone tells you they can't cook,
this is on for them.
Three eggs, a pan, there's not even any drawing or folding.
And still you can pack it in the flavours that you like.
Two easy options.
This one, if you don't want to light a grill,
it's all done in the pan in 90 seconds.
This one, if you're worried about the fold,
it's a super simple method.
The point is eggs are super simple,
and you can add anything you like to them.
As you know, we're a community that loves to talk
and share tips, tricks, and hacks.
So comment down below, or join the conversation on Twitter.
And let us know what you put in your omelette.
Grab some cutlery, Mike.
It's lunchtime again.
- Oh, the creme fraiche and peas, and bacon.
That's fantastic.
- [Ben] And egg is pretty much just the vehicle.