An Omelet Recipe for Shellfish

by Kelly

This is a creative omelet recipe I use anytime I am fortunate enough to have leftover shellfish available when I am about to make breakfast, I like to put it in an omelet. Shrimp, crab, scallops, even mussels or clams. Probably not oysters, though. Too similar, texturally, to the eggs.:)

I find the key is to put shellfish in with ingredients that are not going to overpower their delicate flavor. I think things like avocado and cream cheese compliment their flavor, but if I were to mix shellfish in with, say, bacon and cheddar, it would only be an odd texture in a bacon and cheddar flavored omelet. The same, of course, goes for sausage, ham, and so on. These are all good omelet ingredients, of course, but not to mix with shellfish.

Black olives also go well in this, but I would avoid things like onions. I'd also stay away from really crunchy veggies like raw broccoli. The overall texture should be smooth and elegant, with the "chewiest" part being the shellfish. For lack of a better term, that is.

Since the cream cheese gets pretty fluffy when heated, and is apt to squirt out when I fold the omelet, I will also often build a sort of dam around the outside with a mild flavored cheese like mozzarella. This helps to keep the filling inside without detracting from the flavor. Of course, if you don't want to mess around with cream cheese, you can just use something like mozzarella in the first place. But the cream cheese gets this delightful texture, kind of like the ricotta in a lasagna, and the flavor has just the right amount of tartness to compliment the shellfish.

I like this combination so much that I will sometimes buy shellfish for the express purpose of putting it in omelets. If you want to try this, but don't live in a place where shellfish is available fresh, you can certainly use canned or frozen as well. Just make sure your shellfish is cooked before adding it to the omelet, and if you buy canned crab meat, make sure it is the chunk variety, and not those cans of shreds you can get if you are not careful, which are only good for making sauces.