Meatless Monday: Spanish Omelette

For my first Meatless Monday I decided to make something new but simple. Based on the ingredients I already had in my fridge, a Spanish omelette seemed to fit the bill nicely. There was an easy enough recipe in Nigella Express and, best of all, it recommended that the omelette be eaten at room temperature, so I didn’t have to worry about timing dinner for when Adam would get home.

pages 272-273 of Nigella Express

The recipe was incredibly straightforward. I started by cutting the potatoes into cubes that were a little under an inch. I’d been worried about not having enough potatoes (I had a half dozen red-skinned baby potatoes) so I’d walked down to my favorite market to pick up extras. My mom pointed out that this was probably unnecessary since I was only cooking for two people and she was right. I only ended up using five of the potatoes I already had.

While the potatoes were boiling (since I’d cut them so small it took less than 15 minutes) I chopped up the rest of my ingredients. Nigella called for roasted red peppers and scallions, but since I was depending on the contents of my fridge I went with sun-dried tomatoes and onions, plus curly leaf parsley for color. I also opted for cheddar over Manchego, since that’s what I had on hand.

the sun-dried tomatoes were part of my mom's bountiful tomato harvest this year

While the (now cooked) potatoes drained in the sink, I moved on to the other key ingredient- the eggs. Oddly, the ‘Large’ white egg I used was significantly larger than the three ‘Large’ brown eggs were. I think I’m going to have to look into that. (I think I should also look into the health benefits of brown eggs, to justify the higher price to myself.) I whisked the four eggs together, added my chopped/shredded ingredients  and some salt and pepper.

scrambled eggs with onion, parsley, cheddar, sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper

Now, according to Nigella, it was time to pour the omelette into the pan and start the cooking process. I got as far as heating the oil and butter on the stove before I realized that I’d forgotten about the potatoes draining in the sink. Apparently Nigella did, too. After consulting the recipe again, I discovered that the potatoes disappeared after step two. A quick search of allrecipes reassured me that it was time to add the potatoes.

I put my small frying pan back on the burner and emptied the contents of my mixing bowl into it. This was the challenging part of the process. According to Nigella, I could cook the omelette for five minutes on the stovetop, then transfer it to the broiler to finish up. Unfortunately, none of my frying pans are oven-safe, so I had to search for an alternative cooking method.

waiting for the top to become firm enough to flip

Luckily, The Illustrated Kitchen Bible (one of my winter solstice presents this year) called for cooking in the pan, over low heat, for twenty minutes, then using plates to flip the omelette before returning it to the pan to finish cooking. While this method required a little more patience, I was pleasantly surprised that the bottom didn’t get over-done while the top was becoming solid enough for the plate flip-and-slide.

It actually ended up cooking pretty well. Overall, it was certainly satisfying enough to be a main dish. I was a little dissatisfied with the flavor: the sun-dried tomatoes were definitely the strongest individual flavor, and everything else was pretty mild. I think next time I might try the Kitchen Bible’s method: they suggest cutting the potatoes into matchsticks instead of cubes. I think that could help prevent the big pockets of mildness that the potatoes cause. And, of course, adding a little extra cheese could never hurt… Maybe I should just stick to quiche, after all.