Tastes Like Vintage: Pasta Omelette

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Hammered skillet by judygovintage

The last page of Jack Denton Scott's The Complete Book of Pasta is a supper time secret weapon, a brief recipe with the power to launch thousands of creative omelette suppers. It starts, as one might expect, with eggs and pasta. How it ends is purely determined by the chef and the contents of the larder. There is no shortage of pasta omelette recipes out there on the Internet. But if you start with a basic template like this one to get your proportions right, you don't need any one's advice about what to add. There is no limit to what you can fling together, sizzle to puffy perfection and slip out of your fry pan and onto a plate for dinner.

Eggs for dinner are always a treat. Brunch eggs are nice, but, heavens, how predictable. Come Sunday morning, I'm not one to turn my nose up at a good cheddar, onion and tomato omelette, especially if there's a patty of hash browns and two slices of rye toast riding along with it. But simple scrambled or over easy on toast do not a dinner make. Pasta omelettes fit the bill brilliantly.

Spaghetti bibs by LeafpeopleVintage

What to add...tomatoes, onions, bit of basil, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, prosciutto, ham, or peas for sure. Basically, anything you'd top your plate of pasta with will fold nicely into a pasta omelette. The recipe calls for Romano, but one wonders if a little ricotta might also be nice? With its five eggs, this is not a single serving omelette so perhaps you'll need to caucus with the other diners. As for what to serve it with, a nice side salad  and some crusty bread would be perfect as plate mates.

Pasta Omelette

This is a popular luncheon dish in Naples (which has much better food than is credited) and is one of my favorites. I use leftover pasta, usually spaghetti, that has been cooked al dente, of course, and which has had only a butter or a white sauce added to it, if any.

1950s egg beater by RushCreekVintage

5 eggs
leftover spaghetti (no more than 2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt
liberal amount of milled black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Beat the eggs well in a bowl; stir in the pasta, cheese, salt and pepper. Fry in oil and butter in a large frypan, either folding as an omelette or just turning straight over, pancake style. It should be golden and fluffy, not rubbery or overcooked; 3 minutes at the most on each side should be enough. If you have any leftover tomato sauce, this is excellent served hot on the side. Serves 4.

Respectfully submitted by Recent History