I have to admit, making omelettes has never been a forté of mine, and although Delia’s method (which I recently learnt) definitely does work, I can never get the dish to look as presentable as I’d like.

I’ve come up with an my own way of cooking omelettes (whether that be cheese, mushroom or any other topping of your choice), which is a bit of cheat (and definitely wouldn’t pass in a French restaurant) but allows for a slightly better presentation for my unskilled hand. The omelette is slightly overdone in the photo as I took so long trying to take photos rather than think about cooking times, so yours should come out slightly less golden than appears below.

I always serve this with a fresh salad made from watercress, radish and rocket (which are great seasonal, Spring produce), so has a real kick and complements the soft, soothing egg really well. I find it great for a lunch as only takes a few minutes to make, so is the ideal fast food.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

Omelette (cheese)

• 2 large eggs
• 50ml milk (a ‘splash’ of milk is the technical term)
• 1 large handful of grated cheddar cheese
• 2 twists of freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp of salt

Spring salad

• A handful of watercress
• A handful of rocket
• 4 – 5 radishes (finely sliced)
• a handful of cherry tomatoes – cut in half
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp cider vinegar
• spritz of lemon juice

(In this recipe I also threw in a few spinach leaves as I had those to hand, but they are by no means compulsory).

Recipe:

1. Make the salad first. If you’re just making this for you, then save on the washing up by making and dressing the salad on your plate (I always advocate the lazy way). Toss in all the green leaves, radish slices and tomatoes, then pour over the dressing ingredients and toss together.
2. Turn the grill to high. Then in a small bowl, add all the ingredients to make the omelette except your topping of choice (so not the cheese just yet in my case) and give a good, quick whisk together.
3. Put an oven-proof frying pan or skillet (i.e. one made entirely of metal) over a medium-high heat on the hob and add a drizzle of oil to the pan. Leave the oil to heat up for a moment, then pour in the egg mix.
4. You don’t need to touch it further. Just wait 1 minute until the mixture is cooked underneath and is solidifying around the edges. At this point, take about 2/3 of your chosen topping(s) and scatter over the top of the (still liquid) omelette.
5. Transfer the pan to the grill and leave for another 1-2 minutes until the omelette has puffed up and is just turning golden on top.
6. Using a tea towel to hold the handle of the pan (as it will be hot now!) remove from the grill and gently ease the omelette out the pan and fold onto your plate (which should be with relative ease). I generally find that a small amount of spatula action does the job.
7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of your topping on top of the omelette and serve with the salad.

I can usually get this all done from start to finish in under 10 minutes, so this really does rival any ready meal or hankering for a fast food take away you may have.