A pasta omelette is wonderful when you don’t have much time to invent a new dish. It’s a great idea for lunch boxes, weeknight meals and a perfect way how to use leftovers. Try this delicious, vegetarian pasta omelette, made with simple ingredients but rich in flavours.
This pasta omelette is a real comfort food with a crispy top, soft centre, stuffed with spinach and full of surprises. I used fusilli lunghi for this recipe. That’s a long, corkscrew-shaped pasta. I love it. It makes a nice pattern in the omelette and it is a joy to eat it. Of course, you can use any pasta you have at home and you like; penne, spaghetti, bucatini, rigatoni, farfalle and so on.
Along with fusilli lunghi I used also fresh spinach, cheese (don’t skip this step) and eggs. Keep reading to find out how to make this masterpiece. This recipe serves four portions; either you do four small omelettes or one big and then you cut it.
Ingredients for pasta omelette:
- 300-400 g fusilli lunghi
- 2 garlic cloves
- olive oil
- 200 g cheese (pick something that melts, I used Camembert)
- 150 g fresh spinach
- 4 eggs
- 4 Tbsp crème fraîche
- 100 ml vegetable oil
- 1 tomato
- 10-15 basil leaves
- salt, pepper
First, cook the pasta (if you don’t have any leftovers). In a deep pot boil the water, add the pasta and cook for the recommended time. It takes the fusilli about 12 minutes to be al dente.
In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Clean and chop the garlic. Wash the spinach. Do it twice, just to be sure to remove all the tiny sand or dirt pieces. Let it drain. Cut the cheese into cubes and wash the basil leaves. Wash the tomato and cut it into cubes or slices.
Furthermore, separate the eggs. Add a pinch of salt to the bowl with egg whites and whisk until you get stiff peaks. Put the egg yolks in a larger bowl and whisk them with crème fraîche. Then fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Do it gently, using a wooden spoon. Try not to lose the fluffiness.
Now let’s deep fry the basil. I didn’t say it is the healthiest recipe but just easy and delicious. Hehehe. Make sure that the basil leaves are totally dry. You don’t want to get burned by the hot oil. However, you should still be careful with the oil (don’t run around naked in the kitchen; eheheh). Pour the vegetable oil into a small pan and once it gets hot put in the basil. Fry for 20-30 seconds or until crispy. Then place it on a couple of paper towels to drain off the excessive oil.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it. Start preparing the omelette by adding a drizzle of olive oil into the pan (the size depends on how big and how many omelettes you want to make). When the oil gets warm, put in the pasta (evenly spread around the pan) and the chopped garlic. Let it fry for 3 minutes. There is no need to stir or anything. The pasta should stay compact in order to form a nice looking omelette.
Next, add the cheese cubes and top everything with fresh spinach. Sprinkle with some salt and cover the pan. Allow the spinach to wilt (3-5 minutes) and then pour the egg mixture on top. Quickly spread it evenly around the surface. Place the lid back on the pan and cook for 4 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare a plate, which can be very handy when flipping a heavy omelette. You will need to flip the omelette on the plate and then slide it back in the pan, in order to get both sides golden brown.
Are you ready to flip the pasta omelette? If it’s too heavy, simply ask someone to help you hold the pan or plate. Place the plate on top of the pan and flip both as quickly as possible. The omelette should now lay “upside down” on the plate. Then carefully slide it back into the pan (egg side down, pasta side up) and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the eggs are set.
The pasta omelette is perfect for a party or even better, for after the party. Just before serving, top it with tomato slices and fried basil leaves. In fact, like I said before, this is an excellent idea of how to use your leftovers and a wonderful comfort food.
Enjoy!
