Souffle Omelet - quick and easy recipe

To be honest, I was amazed the first time I made a souffle omelet.

Souffles are considered to be recipes suitable for expert cooks but a souffle omelet is very simple to make and very delicious too. If you have a few eggs, then there's little else you'll need to create this recipe.

This is so tasty and good - and simple too.

Like all my favorites, it's very adaptable - for this meat-free version I used cheese.You can use vegetarian cheeses - the beauty of this recipe is that the cheeses can be varied.

I tend to make this dish when I have oddments of cheese to use up because a mixture of different cheeses is fun - every time I make it, it is slightly different. I've also added other ingredients if I have them available. It's delicious, for example, with caramelized onions added below the cheese.

Once you've mastered the omelet, you can vary the recipe to suit your tastes or the ingredients you have available.Because butter is used in the recipe, I like to serve this with a simple salad to add nutrients without adding extra fat or calories so this omelet was served with a salad of baby greens, black olives and sunflower seeds to add crunch.

The amounts given are to serve two people, although this quantity would serve more with additional accompaniments. I guess we're greedy - we have half each!

• 3 eggs
• A mixture of cheeses. I use about 4oz or so but the amount isn't critical
• A knob of butter for frying. I always use butter for this dish because the flavor complements the eggs. Another reason is that the 'bubbliness' of the melted butter is an indication that it's ready
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salad ingredients of your choice
• ... and that's all!

This dish varies every time I make it because of the different cheeses I use. We love cheese and we always have a good selection to eat with crusty bread and fresh fruit for lunch. But because we have such a variety, we're often left with oddments. This would be lovely cooked using your favorite cheese though - and it's fun to experiment!

WE USED

Edam
Goat cheese
Cheddar
Amish
Swiss

I know it sounds a little like a cheese tour of the world but it was a delicious combination.

This recipe required only one pan but you'll need four bowls to get everything ready beforehand. The omelet cooks very quickly so everything is prepared before cooking.

EGGS

Separate the eggs. I do this by cracking the egg holding it over a bowl, then transferring the yolk from one half eggshell to the other letting the white drip down into the bowl. If you have lovely fresh eggs from a local farm or supplier which might have some ... umm, you know .. attached to the shell, give them a good wipe first! Or even easier, use and egg separator - they only cost a few dollars.

YOLKS

Simply mix the yolks with a fork adding freshly ground black pepper. I rarely add salt when I cook because I believe that we get enough in our diet but if you disagree, add salt too at this stage.

WHITES

This is where I find a man comes in handy - or at least someone with stronger wrists than I do. If you have an electric whisk or beater, then use that to beat the whites. I find that a husband and a fork works just as well :)

CHEESE

I grate the harder cheeses into a bowl. With softer cheese I just break it into chunks with my fingers. Add to another bowl. There's no need to mix them well - one bite of the omelet might be goat cheesy, the next cheddary and so on. That's good.

SALAD

Assemble the salad ingredients in a bowl. There's no need to mix them as yet; do that at the last minute, just before serving.

Now I'm ready to go.

HEAT THE BUTTER

Put a skillet / frying pan onto the heat and add the butter. It will be ready when the butter starts to foam and get bubbly. Pre-heat the broiler to high.

PREPARE THE OMELET MIX

Fold the egg yolks into the fluffy whites with a metal spoon. Be gentle - you want to keep the air in the whites. Add half the cheese and mix gently.

COOK THE OMELET

Now that the butter is foaming in the pan, add the egg and cheese mix. Shake the pan to be sure that the mixture covers the bottom and then let it cook for one minute only. Yes, one.

BROIL

Put the pan under your heated broiler. Again, you'll be cooking it for about a minute or so and you'll see when it's ready because the cheese will turn golden and gooey and yummy. The omelet should be just a few inches from the broiler's elements.

Just before serving the omelet, quickly toss the salad ingredients together. As you can see from the image, I used arugula, baby spinach, swiss chard, a few sliced black olives (they are a real favorite of ours) and sunflower seeds. Before tossing add the juice of a wedge of lime.

Even though we are vegetarian, we eat eggs and cheese. Occasionally we have vegan meals - which means no animal by-products at all - but as a general rule, I find it hard to cook every day without eggs and cheese. Both are so very adaptable and flexible - from a quick cheese omelet to a dinner party quality dish. See the books below for further ideas and cooking inspiration.