Rocco DiSpirito’s Tutorial For Making The Perfect Omelette
Grab a non-stick pan, 3-4 eggs and your favorite fillings, we’re making omelettes with chef Rocco DiSpirito!
Video Transcript
- And you mentioned in the grocery stores, we see people buying a lot of food-- they're preparing food at home-- which is one of the reasons we also wanted to catch up with you, because I don't know what to cook, Rocco.
[LAUGHTER]
ROCCO DISPIRITO: You know, I'm sort of like that as well, but when I cook at home, I'm either cooking an elaborate feast or I'm cooking a simple thing like a soup that's made with a can of black beans and a can of chicken stock, or an omelet, or a frittata, or a simple pasta like cacio e pepe, that's four ingredients. I cook very, very simple food at home, especially now while we're self quarantining, we really want easy comfort foods. So I thought I'd show you how to make an omelet today, since most people I speak to are fascinated with omelets.
They all want to know what the right method is, and I just want to show you a 30 second version of an omelet that everyone can make at home and that you can start at a simple, very simple place with just eggs, and then you can start adding lots of ingredients to make it something more elaborate. Eggs are still on the shelves. I still see cheese out there.
You know, there's anything from diced peppers to onions to cubed ham to canned salmon through for a filling. So the sky's the limit when it comes to fillings. I just wanted everyone to know what the basic technique is though, because if you don't know the basic technique, you can't make a great omelet. It ends up--
- That's my problem
ROCCO DISPIRITO: Scrambled eggs.
- That's my problem, so let's do it.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: All right, cool. So if you want to get a nice pan like this which is non-stick, kind of important. A non-stick pan will guarantee success with an omelet. It works in cast iron, black iron, stainless steel, it's all about the heat. Got to have high heat. Most people cook omelets on low heat. That's the mistake that everyone makes. An omelet is a very quick cooked dish. If you ever been to brunch or ever been to breakfast in a hotel and you're seeing, you're watching 20, 30 omelets come out of the kitchen. There's a good chance there's only one guy cooking all those omelets, and that's because they're very fast at it.
So let me show you. This is on, its on high. I'm going to let this get very hot. I'm going to break three eggs. I like four eggs for myself, but for most people, three eggs is enough. Try not to pre-crack eggs. That does nothing to have the flavor or quality of your omelet. Take two forks. That's all you need, or if you don't have forks, a spoon.
- Hm.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: Yes?
- I just, I've never seen this technique. OK.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: OK, cool, well, that's why I'm here.
- I like it.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: To show you new techniques. Two forks, just like grandma used to. Two forks makes the whisk, and you want to beat them, but you don't want to aerate them. If you add air to the eggs, you're going to end up with a very fluffy tortilla frittata style omelet, and that's not really a classic French rolled omelet. Do not add anything to the egg mixture. No cream, no milk, no butter, nothing except salt and a little pepper if you want.
All right. Once that's done, check the temperature of your pan. It's feeling pretty hot. The best way to check the temperature is to add oil. Make sure it's nice and clean. Non-stick pans just wipe like this. That's all you have to do. They don't have to go into the dishwasher, don't have to go in the sink. Add oil. You want a generous amount of olive oil. I like olive oil, you can use butter, of course, if you want as well.
Wait till that oil is really hot. How do you know it's really hot? It's smoking. Have a plate ready to roll your it out on. You don't need all these tools. They're nice to have, but basically any tool will work. OK, once the oil is hot and smoking, you can see smoke hopefully.
- A little bit.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: Crack your eggs, and you can see it's going to cook really fast. You want to shake and stir, shake and stir, don't let it scramble. Don't let it scramble. That omelet is done. It's going to roll itself out onto the plate.
- What!
Whoa.
[LAUGHTER]
ROCCO DISPIRITO: There you go. That's it.
- Rocco. Rocco, I've been doing it so wrong.
[LAUGHTER]
ROCCO DISPIRITO: Everyone's been doing it wrong. So most people slowly cook the eggs, you know, push the eggs to one side, let the other raw eggs cook and then push the other side over. You don't need to do any of that. You want me to show you how to do a filled omelet?
- Yes, please. That was so fast. I'm honestly in shock. It's so much easier than I thought it was going to be.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: It's just about shaking and stirring to the point where it's going to set but not scramble. Cook it another 10 seconds, you'll have scrambled eggs. You're trying to leave a thin membrane of cooked eggs surrounding the less cooked eggs, and you want it to be soft in the center, because it will carry over cooking while you continue to cook.
- So you said you're going to add some stuff. What are your favorite omelet additions?
ROCCO DISPIRITO: One more time?
- What's your favorite thing to put in an omelet?
ROCCO DISPIRITO: What do I like to put in an omelet?
- Mhm.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: Cheese is a great stuffing for an omelet, of course. I like cubed ham. I like peppers, onions, mushrooms. Goat cheese is my favorite. We'll do cheese today. I have cheddar and mozzarella right here. All right, so you're letting the oil get hot. Going to add your eggs. Wait til it's hot. A lot of people don't wait till it's hot. That's where the mistake is made.
It's almost cooked. It's almost done the minute you put it on the pan. Shake and stir, don't let it scramble. Let it sit. You want to add some cheese, no problem. This is the time to do it. Let it fold into your pan by itself. Look, do you see how it rolled itself?
- Yeah. Wow.
ROCCO DISPIRITO: See that? An omelet should jump out of the pan for you if you're doing the right job.
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