So it turns out that, until recently, you hadn’t heard of or eaten Spanish style tortilla. I guess up until that point, tortilla had meant a thing to wrap stuff in or to dip in guacamole. Which must have made it a shock when I suggested having tortilla for breakfast in Barcelona in the market. Even though you were probably wondering why I was taking you for morning nachos and salsa before 9am, you still went along with it. Which means either I am very convincing or you are very trusting. Or perhaps both. Either way, there wasn’t any guacamole in sight. Just the savoury, sweet, eggy thing that I had been thinking we’d go for all along.
It is a bit of labour of love to make this dish, so set aside some time. The ingredients: eggs, potato, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, are deceptively simple. It’s the process which is the tricky part. So here’s my version.
A&As Spanish Tortilla
SHOPPING LIST
Makes enough for two small omlettes (20-25cm frying pan) or one big one (30cm frying pan)
Must Haves
- 6 good quality eggs
- Lots of good olive oil
- 600g of waxy potatos
- 5 medium onions
Optional
Other things for the filling. I like smoked ham pieces, chopped into bits, but you can also use (cooked and patted dry) spinach, cooked and cooled chorizo or whatever else takes your fancy.
HOW TO MAKE
1. Chop the onions in half and then into long thin strands. Put them all in pot (ideally heavy bottomed) with a good glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook them down on medium low heat until jammy. This takes about 20-30 minutes. Stire if they start to catch, as you want to avoid browning until the very end, when all the water will have gone from the onions and you will be left with a lump of sweet onion jam about 20% of the size of the raw chopped onions. Leave to cool in the olive oil.
2. Peel the potatoes. Chop into pieces about the size of a guitar pick (I couldn’t think of a better example) and about as thick as a one pound coin (ditto). Fry these in olive oil, slat and pepper until just cooked through. They shouldn’t be mushy, and can be slightly crispy. Takes about 10 minutes. Leave to cool in the olive oil.
3. Break and beat the eggs. Add the cooled onions and potatoes (plus the olive oil they are cooked in), and any other optional fillings. Cover and leave the mixture for at least an hour (2-3 hours or overnight in the fridge even better).
4. Select your pan. This recipe is two tortillas in a small frying pan (20-25cm) or one in a big one (30cm).
5. Pour in a generous amount of olive oil and bring to heat. Add the mixture so it fills about two thirds of the pan once the oil is hot. Cook until the mixture is set and feels flippable (maybe 4 mins on a medium heat), but the bottom isn’t burnt. This is quite a hard thing to judge, but keeping the pan at medium heat and moving it to check the omlette is flappable will help. The top should still look almost completely uncooked when ready to flip.
6. Flip the tortilla onto a plate, add more oil to the pan and slide the tortilla back in, with the uncooked side down. Cook the underside for lass time that the top, probably about half the time. You want the middle to still be jammy and the residual heat will stop cooking the tortilla even after it is off the heat. Slide out onto a plate immediately to cool.
7. Wait 20 mins to let the tortilla hit room temperature and serve.