Nutella Stuffed Challah French Toast

I came across some kind of stuffed French Toast recipe a week or two ago, and have been wanting to make my own ever since. The only problem is I generally tend to favor savory dishes more than sweet, so prior to today I hadn't really felt like making it. I'm certainly glad I did. These were totally delicious, easy to make, and ridiculously filling. No, seriously, you'll see later: I had the equivalent of half of what I plated left.

This recipe (as far as the egg mixture goes) is about enough for four slices. Multiply as needed for larger batches.

Ingredients

Loaf of Challah Bread
(Italian, French, whatever works as long as it is soft bread)
2 Eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
A few sprinkles of Pumpkin Pie spice
Nutella
Butter

Optional: Strawberries or other fruit garnish, syrup


Directions

Slice the loaf of bread into THICK slices. You just want to make sure you have it thick enough so you can easily cut a slit in the flat side and kind of squeeze it open to get the Nutella in without it ripping. (It's not a big deal if the slice gets little holes though.)


Whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the vanilla and a few dashes of the Pumpkin Pie spice. Cinnamon would work here too, but we somehow did not have any and I thought the Pumpkin Pie spice would give it a slightly different twist. It turned out well!

Take the slices of bread after cutting a slit on the flat side and kind of squeeze the ends towards each other with one hand so the hole opens up a little and then use a knife to work the Nutella into the pocket. Use as much or as little as you'd like. You can always drizzle more on top later!



Melt a tablespoon of butter into a skillet (non-stick works best) and make sure it covers the entire pan. Dip your Nutella-stuffed slices of toast into the egg mixture, and make sure to let any excess slide off prior to putting into the pan.

Let slices of bread cook in the skillet for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and "toasted" for the most part.



Plate the slices and top as you please! I drizzled a little bit of extra Nutella on top, sliced up some Strawberries, and then did just a small drizzle of syrup. In hindsight they would be fine with just the Nutella.

ENJOY!


And see? I was totally not kidding that I had way too much leftover!

Spinach Caprese Omelettes

I might be mildly obsessed with fresh mozzarella. Maybe it started when I read somewhere that it was one of the best cheeses for you. Maybe when I had that Caprese Chicken Sandwich at Red Robin like two months ago. I don't really know... but what I do know is that the other day, seemingly out of nowhere, I got a craving for a Caprese Omelette. I didn't even know if this was a real thing or not, though I figured someone somewhere had done it before.

We meant to buy Basil at Whole Foods to make it legitimate, but we forgot. I'm not complaining, I'm obsessed with Spinach and was more than happy to use that as a substitute!

Ingredients
Eggs (2 or 3 per omelette, your choice)
Fresh Mozzarella
(You can buy it at the store as seen above, in the cute little balls.)
Tomatoes of your choice
Spinach or Basil
Milk
Olive Oil

Seasonings of your choice- I used an Italian blend with Oregano, Basil, and some others, and then salt and pepper.

Directions

Start by prepping all of your ingredients so you're ready to go when the egg goes in. I just gave the spinach a basic chopping so it wasn't so big, diced the tomatoes, and cut the mozzarella balls in half.


Take your eggs and add a splash of milk and a few dashes each of the seasonings you are using. Amounts here really don't need to be specific... if in doubt just use a little and you can always add more salt/pepper to taste after it's cooked. Whisk egg, milk, and seasoning together.

In a small skillet (remember your omelette will be half the size of the skillet, and the thickness will depend on how far the egg spreads out) drizzle just enough olive oil to cover the pan and let it cook down for a few minutes or until it starts to bubble on medium low heat.

Pour in the egg mixture and let it sit until it starts to become opaque around the edges. When this starts to happen (pictured below) and you can get your spatula under the egg, lift up as much of the cooked part as possible and tip the pan so the runny egg on top can get under the cooked part. Continue to do this until very little uncooked egg is left on top. At this point it's much easier to flip to let it cook just a little bit on the other side.


Add your ingredients to one half of the omelette. (I recommend using a good amount of tomato to keep it a little juicy.) I put the ingredients on the thinnest half if there is a difference and put the cheese down first so it has more of an opportunity to melt. At this point flip the other half of the omelette over onto the ingredients, and hold down with the spatula for a minute. You can use your judgement to take it off when the cheese seems to have started to melt and the spinach or basil is starting to wilt.

Turn the heat off and slide the omelette onto your plate and you're good to go!

ENJOY!