Asparagus Omelette with Goat's Cheese
A softly set French omelette filled with quickly sautéed green asparagus and creamy tangy goat's cheese, served with dressed rocket leaves on the side. This recipe is spring cooking at its most straightforward, seasonal, and tasty!
Ingredients
For the asparagus filling
- 200 gr green asparagus woody ends snapped off, cut into 3–4cm pieces
- 15 gr unsalted butter
- salt and black pepper
For each omelette (makes 2)
- 3 eggs
- 1 gr unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp cold water
- salt and black pepper
To finish
- 80 gr goat cheese
- 1 handful rocket
- 1 drizzle olive oil
- 1 squeeze lemon juice
Equipment
- 1 frying pan 20–22cm
Instructions
1. Cook the asparagus
- Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, tossing, until just tender with a little colour. Season and set aside, keeping warm. This divides between two omelettes.
2. Beat the eggs
- Crack 3 eggs into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp cold water, salt and pepper. Beat well until combined and slightly frothy, but don't over-aerate. Do this fresh for each omelette, not all six eggs at once.
3. Cook the omelette
- Heat the pan over high heat until properly hot. Add the butter and let it foam. The moment the foam subsides, pour in the eggs. Stir immediately with a spatula in quick circles, pulling set egg from the edges to the centre while shaking the pan, for 30 to 40 seconds, until about 80% set but still glossy on top.
4. Fill and fold
- Scatter half the asparagus and half the crumbled goat's cheese over one half. Let it sit 10 seconds to set the base without colouring. Tilt the pan and fold the empty half over the filling. Slide onto a warm plate.
5. Repeat
- Wipe the pan, return to the heat, and repeat with the remaining eggs and filling.
6. Dress and serve
- Toss the rocket with olive oil, lemon and a pinch of salt. Serve alongside both omelettes, immediately.
Notes
- Pan size is not optional. A 20-22cm non-stick pan for a 3-egg omelette is the standard for a reason. Too big and the eggs spread too thin and set too quickly. Too small and you get a thick, under-set slab. If yours is bigger, use 4 eggs.
- Don't brown the omelette. This is the most important rule in French omelette-making. The moment you see colour on the outside, it's overcooked by French standards. High heat for speed, not for colour.
- The cold water trick is worth doing. A tablespoon of cold water beaten into the eggs creates a slightly lighter, more tender result. Some French cooks use a splash of crème fraîche instead. Both work.
- Goat cheese is what you want here, the soft, fresh kind that crumbles easily and melts into the eggs. Aged, rind-on chèvre is a different thing entirely and won't work the same way.
- Asparagus season runs April to June in France. Outside those months, this recipe is still worth making, but it's best when asparagus is actually in season and tastes like something.
- Serve on warm plates. A French omelette cools and firms up quickly. Cold plates are the enemy.