30 minutes
Cooking time : 5 to 10 minutes
Ingredients for 2 people :
4 eggs, 500 grams of swiss chard.
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
1 spoon of grated parmesan.
Olive oilthyme.
Pepper and salt.
Separate the green leaves from the chard and wash them carefully several times. Put them to cook for 15 minutes in 2 litres of salted water. Let them cool down, drain them, and then press them hard between your hands in order to extract the excess water. Chop the result into largish lumps.
Cut the onion into thin slices and blanch it in a frying pan containing a large glassful of olive oil. Now add the chopped chard and the leaves of thyme. Fry it for 5 minutes while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon. Add salt and pepper.
Break the eggs into a large bowl and add the parmesan and a half clove of garlic which has been crushed against the prongs of a fork.Beat the lot with the fork, mixing in the parmesan thoroughly.
Pour the beaten eggs into the pan containing the chard without disturbing too much the contents and lower the temperature. This is the tricky part of the recipe : the omelette must not stick to the pan but it should acquire a good colour. When the top of the omelette starts to firm turn it over with the aid of a plate and let it cook another two minutes.
La trùcha can be eaten hot, warm, or even cold with a glassful of olive oil. It makes a delicious picnic meal if it is slipped at the end of its cooking time into a round bread like a pan bagnat*, and including the oil in which it was cooked.
In the season one can also add several chopped basil leaves to the eggs, but this is not really indispensible for this delicious dish if the chard is of top quality.
After La trùcha, the most typical Niçois omelette uses artichokes, a simple but delicious treat which has given pleasure to generations and which can be made late in Summer. It is perfect only if the little violet artichokes are used.
* pan bagnat : a flat round bread roll (12 to 16 cms in diameter) filled with salade niçoise and drenched with olive oil
