French Omelette
Have you ever seen a French chef make a crepe? They do this wonderfully quick motion with their wrist while holding the crepe pan, making the crepe flip over perfectly. They do the same thing with their omelettes too.
A French omelette, also known as an omelet aux fines herbes, is flipped over and cooked on both sides before it’s folded into thirds to create the finished presentation.
I’m not ashamed to admit that the whole flick of the wrist movement scares me and I avoid it when I can. Whenever I make a crepe or a French omelette, I simply use a really large spatula to aid me in flipping the food over.
It works perfectly every time and I don’t have any fear that my food will end up on my kitchen floor rather than back in the pan.
A French omelette is really just an omelette, but because people tend to make omelettes in so many different ways, clarifying it as French just lets you know that this is the kind that gets folded over.
In France, a classic omelette is made with fresh herbs and some kind of cheese. Here, I’ve mixed chopped tarragon, chives, and basil into my omelette, then filled it with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.
I love the flavor combination from the herbs and sun-dried tomatoes, and I just love the consistency of goat cheese when it’s warm; it’s all the more creamy!
While the French make their omelette look all fancy with their flipping skills, it’s actually a really easy breakfast to make. Sometimes, I’ll even enjoy this omelette for dinner with a slice of toasted baguette.
If I don’t have sun-dried tomatoes on hand, I’ll incorporate sliced peppers or mushrooms, and if I don’t have goat cheese, I’ll do something equally tasty like fresh mozzarella.
If you’re not much of a baker, then this might be the perfect breakfast to spoil Mom with this Mother’s Day!
French Omelette
An herbed, folded omelette with sun-dried tomato and creamy goat cheese nestled inside.
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tbsp chopped basil
- 1/2 tbsp chopped tarragon
- pinch of sea salt
- pinch of ground pepper
- olive oil for the pan
- 1 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 sundried tomato, sliced thinly and oil drained
Instructions
- To a small bowl, add the milk, egg, salt, and pepper. Give it a whisk just until you've got several small bubbles forming (avoid mixing too much and creating large bubbles). Add half of the fresh herbs and give it a gentle stir to combine.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a small pan (5 inches would be preferable - see note at end). Warm the oil over medium heat, and give it a swirl around the pan so that it coats the entire bottom of the pan and a little bit along the sides of the pan.
- Pour the egg mixture into the center of the pan. Now swirl the pan around so that the egg batter goes to the edges of the pan. Use a rubber spatula to gently push extra egg batter to the edges of the pan, taking care not to scrape the pan but rather gently nudge the batter to spread out.
- Once the egg batter looks like it's set on the bottom and is starting to bubble up a bit, lift the pan up and tilt it to one side to slide the egg onto an awaiting (large) spatula. Use the spatula to flip the egg onto its other side into the pan. Move the pan back over to the heat onto low heat.
- Add the crumbled goat cheese and sun-dried tomato slices onto the center of the omelette, like you would for a burrito. Use your rubber spatula to gently fold one side of the omelette over, then fold the omelette one more time over itself. You're essentially folding the omelette into thirds, like a letter. Serve immediately, garnished with the remaining fresh herbs.
Notes
If your pan is larger than 5 inches in diameter, add a little more oil, as needed, to cover the bottom of the pan.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 145
Soon when I was in culinary school..my French chef used to smirk when he talked about American omelettes 🙂 he would say an omelette should be as smooth as a baby’s butt :0 No wrinkles…no color. No yours would make my chefs proud. But I will tell you… the key to that flick of the rest…practice and a non stick pan 🙂
Wow, you make the humble omelette look so beautiful!! I make an omelette often for a light lunch and my son loves it too 🙂
Thanks so much, Thanh! Omelettes for lunch are fabulous! 😀
Oh my! Basil, chives, and tarragon.. A festival in one fancy (and beautiful) omelette.
Gorgeous flavors all wrapped up in one delicious breakfast dish. <3
Thank you, Aysegul! I am a fan of all the herbs too so this is heaven for me 🙂
En Espagne, on appelle ça aussi une omelette française pour la différenciè de l’omelette espagnole qui est à base des pommes de terre. Ton omelette est parfait et je la mangerais bien au petit déjeuner avec mon café bien chaud! Bon weekend Beeta ! xx
Merci, Eva! Je ne sais pas sur la omelette espagnole…il semble delicieuse! <3
holy moly these photos have me drooling. cannot get enough of how PERFECT this omelette is.. seriously saving the recipe! Xx
Thank you so much, Thalia! You are so kind <3
OMG, this post totally bring back memories of culinary school. In one of the first classes you have to learn how to perfect the french omelette, including the flipping. I remember being terrified the day of the test! Thankfully I aced it, but don’t ask me to do it now! I’m with you on the spatula!! 😉 Your french omelette looks absolutely PERFECT, Beeta! I’ll take 2 please. 😉 Cheers, sweets! xo
Thanks so much, Cheyanne! I’d be so terrified too! Oh my…I can’t even imagine!