Mushroom Omelette à la Provençale

Fall is a bountiful time in Provence for mushroom hunting. At the market in Aix-en-Provence, there is a stand dedicated solely to a parade of mushrooms...freshly gathered. I was there at the market with my three girls and we all stopped to admire them, their texture, colors and smell, the differences between the varieties.

The market vendor took a handful of golden girolle mushrooms and raised his hand to his nose, then told me, “Mettez-les sous votre nez et respirez” (put them right under your nose and breathe in). They brought the pungent sweet odor of a forest floor to mind immediately. 

I asked him how he liked to cook the mushrooms. He said, simply. Garlic, butter, parsley. Nothing else. He came to another group of mushrooms: les mousserons des bois, smaller and in shades of heliotrope and warm beige. He gestured, with these, an omelette. Simple - butter, parsley, salt and pepper.

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 2 cups mushrooms (I used mousserons des bois)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Olive oil
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• Salt
• Pepper 

Directions

Gently clean the mushrooms. Heat the butter in a sauce pan and cook the mushrooms for 8 minutes on medium heat, stirring often. Salt, pepper and keep warm.

Crack the eggs in a mixing bowl and beat them with a fork, adding the rinsed and chopped parsley, then add a little salt and pepper. 

Pour a little oil in a small frying pan and then add in a portion of the beaten eggs (this will be repeated 2-3 times). Cook the eggs in omelette style then slide onto a dish and keep warm.

Repeat this process in the same way to make 2-3 small omelettes in total. Assemble them with the mushrooms by stacking omelettes and mushrooms alternately. Serve hot.