A French Country Affair! Elegant Omelette Gateau W/Chive Flowers

French Tart's Note:

This would be a wonderful centrepiece for a special celebratory meal, such as a summer wedding, christening, anniversary, birthday or a bridal shower. Open faced omelettes, studded with fresh vegetables and herbs including chives and chive flowers, are sandwiched together with herb and garlic cream cheese to create a savoury vegetarian gateau! Top the gateau off with parmesan cheese shavings and toss baby salad leaves on and around the gateau to serve. This does take a little time to prepare, however, it is made a day before it is needed, making it ideal for a special event. You could add thinly sliced ham or crispy bacon if this is not required as a vegetarian dish. Preparation time includes the chilling time overnight. (The idea for this recipe was taken from a Good Food magazine - summer 2008.)

• Total Time: 25 hrs
• Prep Time: 24 hrs
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 10-12

Yield: 1.0 Omelett ...

OMELETTES

• 10 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small courgettes , finely chopped (zucchini)
• 4 spring onions , thinly sliced (green onions)
• 4 stems of chives with fresh edible flowers , finely sliced and flowers shredded
• 4 roasted red peppers , from a jars, drained and finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed
• 1 small red chile , deseeded and finely diced
• salt and pepper

FILLING

• 400 g cream cheese or 400 g boursin cheese
• 4 tablespoons milk , to mix
• 4 tablespoons fresh chives , snipped in to small pieces
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano , finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil , finely chopped
• salt and pepper

GARNISH

• baby spinach or rocket or mixed salad green
• fresh shaved parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Take 2 bowls and add 5 eggs to each bowl - whisk lightly.
2. In a large frying pan, add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and fry the courgettes, spring onions, chives and chive flowers. Saute for about 8 to 10 minutes over a low to medium heat until the vegetables and herbs are soft but not coloured. Set aside and season with salt and pepper.
3. In one bowl of whisked eggs, add the fried courgette mixture and in the other bowl of eggs, add the red peppers, garlic and chili - season well with salt and pepper.
4. In an 8" omelette or pancake pan, heat up some of the remaining olive oil and using a third of the courgette omelette mixture, make an open face omelette; fry the omelette for about 5 minutes or until the omelette is firm. Carefully invert the omelette on to a plate - then slide it back in to the pan cooking the other side of the omelette for about 3 minutes or until firm. Make two more courgette omelettes this way and set them to one side to cool. Continue with the red pepper omelette mixture - making three more open face omelettes. You will now have three courgette omelettes and three red pepper omelettes. Allow them to cool before assembling your "Gateau".
5. Whilst the omelettes are cooling, make the filling. Mix all of the filling ingredients together - check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Take an 8" cake tine, line it with some cling film, making sure that it overlaps the sides to about 6".
7. Assemble the gateau - start of with the most attractive red pepper omelette, and place it in the cake tin - spread some filling over the top of the omelette. Continue with a courgette omelette and then a red pepper omelette - continue stacking the omelettes this way, spreading the filling in between them as you go. You will end up with a big multi-layered cake or sandwich of omelettes!
8. Take the excess cling film and cover the gateau to cover it completely. Allow to rest in the fridge for 24 hours.
9. When you are ready to serve it - carefully take the gateau out using the cling film to help you lift it out of the tin.
10. Serve it on a pretty plate or cake stand, with the red pepper omelette facing the top.
11. Sprinkle baby salad leaves and parmesan cheese shavings over the top and around the gateau. Chive flowers would also be an attractive garnish.
12. To serve, cut in to wedges and serve with the salad leaves and parmesan shavings - with extra salad leaves and dressing if you wish.

Reviews

[Chef Gorrig]

I have made this twice and both times it was a complete success. It is also quite versatile in the way you can play with the omelette mixtures. I added a few sun dries tomatoes with the roast peppers. Also, experiment with the cheese filling but be careful not to overpower the dish as it is quite delicate. I finished off the decoration with flowers and leaves from the chives. Just a few leaves spread randomly in an overlapping diagonal pattern.