Thursday 19 September 2013

Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)

Well, the past 2 months have been quite an experience and I am only now getting back to the things I was doing while I was pregnant.  Since it has been quite some time since I blogged or uploaded a video to YouTube I needed to reassess where I had left things. I had forgotten about this little treasure. It seems that one of the things I had planned was to write about a popular morning food - a breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة).  I had previously made a video which you can find on YouTube :



Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)

Typically eaten at breakfast this dish is akin to an omelette.  The parsley is the dominant fresh flavour and balances the egg and fried onion.  The beauty with this dish is the ease with which you can accommodate people.  The ingredients are simple and few so there is no difficulty in adjusting the quantities to suit the number of people eating.  This would be a great dish to keep in mind for a very quick and easy midweek dinner and could also be served sliced as part of a mezze platter which is great as it caters for vegetarians.

This breakfast omelette is a really healthy breakfast option.  It is high in protein from the eggs and in vitamin A from the parsley and you could easily replace the butter with cooking spray or use a non stick pan and omit it all together for a low fat option.  

Eggah takes me back to my childhood and breakfasts on a weekend morning when we were all home together.  Dad worked Saturdays so usually that was Sunday morning.  He would get up before everyone else and get together the most lavish breakfast compared to the working week breakfast options of toast or cereal.  On his breakfast banquet morning he would have Ful medames, Falafel, boiled eggs, fresh bread from the local bakery, along with an array of smaller plates containing, tomatoes, rocket leaves, feta cheese, sliced onions, olives and whatever else he could rustle up.  Sometimes he would stand in the kitchen and we could have eggs however we liked them.  Boiled, fried or like this a breakfast omelette was one of my mum's favourite egg dishes.

I had forgotten about it for years until one evening I was on the phone to my dad and he asked what was for dinner.  Too tired to think I said I had no idea and couldn't be bothered with much since there wasn't anything too exciting in the fridge but I still needed to get dinner on the table. He said "have you got eggs?", to which I said "yes there are eggs and not much else".  He said "have you got parsley?", to which I said there is some growing in a pot. He declared "Well, then you have eggah"!!

Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)
Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)


I made it that night for the boys and I was very pleased when they said they loved it.  I must remember to make this more often for them, or at least ring my dad on nights when I can't find anything much to cook so that he can remind me!!

I hope you like it too.

Serves: 3

5 eggs.
large bunch flat leaf parsley, washed and finely chopped.
1 onion, chopped.
Salt and pepper, to taste.
2 tablespoons butter.
1 tablespoon flour.

Melt half the butter in a fry pan over low heat, add onion and fry for 5 minutes until caramelized.
Add parsley and flour, and stir for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat.
In a bowl beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.  Add the onion and parsley mixture and stir well to combine.
Heat a little butter in a fry pan and pour in a third of the egg mixture.  Cook until the bottom is golden before flipping over to cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining egg mixture.

This is great served hot with feta cheese and fresh Lebanese bread.

Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)
Breakfast omelette the Mediterranean way (Eggah عجة)