Omelets are surely nice and easy to make, but for some variation in your breakfast meals, you may consider cooking something else at times. For example, another quick breakfast recipe that can’t go wrong are scrambled eggs. Some say that they are even easier than omelettes, because you don’t have to worry about making the perfect omelet, folding it evenly, filling it nicely and so on. You just throw all ingredients in the pan, cook them for one-two minutes and the breakfast is served. If you have a big family, this can save you a lot of time, because you cook for all people at once, while if you make omelets, you have to cook them one by one, so it’s the time multiplied by the number of people you cook for. Here’s how to cook scrambled eggs with bacon and red peppers.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

• 4 slices of bacon (choose nice ones, which have both some fat and some lean meat, and leave out the pork skin)
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped small
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serves 2

Cooking method:

Cut the bacon slices in thin stripes, then cook them in a frying pan, at medium temperature. You don’t need to add any oil, because the bacon will generate the cooking liquid from the melting fat. Stir often until you see that most of the fat has gone and the bacon pieces start to get a crispy, yellow look. Beat the eggs in a bowl together with the salt and pour the mixture over the hot bacon pieces. Cook the food at medium fire until you see the egg mixture starts to harden. This could take about two minutes. Then add the chopped red pepper in the pan and continue cooking and stirring until eggs are well done. With a large spoon, make portions and put them on two plates, then sprinkle oregano and freshly ground black pepper over them. Serve hot, with cherry tomatoes.

The Spanish omelet, or Spanish omelette, is also known as tortilla Espanola or tortilla de patatas and it is an omelet with potato filling. It rather looks like a cake than like a French omelette, because it is much taller and more compact than classic omelets. Unlike plain omelets, this one is also good when it’s cold. This dish has lots of variants, depending on the taste of the cook. It can be thicker or thinner, it can contain eggplants, courgettes, red peppers or mushrooms, or even peas sometimes. Chorizo, ham or bacon are other popular choices of ingredients for this omelet.

This is a basic recipe to which you can add those ingredients you like most. It’s suitable both for starter or for main dish.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 average size potatoes, peeled, cut in halves, then sliced evenly
• 4-5 eggs
• 1 onion, peeled, chopped
• Olive oil (as much as to cover the potato slices when you fry them)
• Salt according to taste

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Cooking procedure:

Pour the oil in a frying pan and bring it to medium temperature. You can try it with a piece of potato: if it sizzles, then the oil is ready for cooking and you can now fry the potatoes and the onions. Before putting them into the pan, mix them in a recipient and salt them. Then fry them until the potatoes turn yellow. Keep the temperature low, because otherwise the potatoes will remain raw inside and get burnt on the outside. The potatoes are done when they can be easily broken apart with a fork. Now it’s time to get them out of the frying pan and let them drain for a while. Beat the eggs and pour them on the potatoes - onions mix. Carefully mix everything, then pour it in the frying pan heated at medium temperature. In about 4-5 minutes, the omelet should become brown on the bottom side, but because of its thickness, the upper part will still be raw. Now you’ll have to flip the omelet, which is not an easy task. An easy method is to use a second frying pan, fit it over the omelet then turn it upside down and either continue cooking it in the second pan or let it slide inside the first pan. Now the cooking will take about 4-5 minutes until the omelet is done. Serve it sliced like a cake.