Pipérade

Directions

This is a Basque specialty, and quick to make if the pipérade mixture has been prepared in advance. As the omelette is not folded, and is served in its cooking vessel, it is not a disaster if it sticks a little on the bottom. You may therefore cook the eggs in a low, glazed pottery dish, or a fancy skillet. 

1. Brown the ham slices lightly on both sides in hot oil or butter. Set them aside, and reheat just before using them at the end of the recipe.

2. In the same oil or butter in which you browned the ham, cook the onions and peppers slowly, covering the skillet, until they are tender but not browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Stir in the garlic and pepper. Lay the tomatoes over the onions and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Uncover, raise heat, and a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until the juice from the tomatoes has almost entirely evaporated. Season to taste, and reheat just before using. (*) Recipe may be prepared ahead to this point.

4. Heat the oil or butter in the skillet or dish. When very hot, pour in the eggs. Stir rapidly with a fork until the eggs have just set into a creamy mass. Remove from heat and spread over them the hot pipérade, mixing a bit of it delicately into the eggs. Lay the warm ham strips over the pipérade. Sprinkle with the herbs and serve immediately.

Click here for Julia Child's fool proof omelette technique.  

Random House Canada

Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. Copyright 2001 by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.