Tortilla Española
Or Tortilla de Patatas. Or Spanish Omelette. It’s the same thing. With or without onion, warm or cold – it’s delicious.
In my house it’s less of a tapas event and more of a family supper when we’re all rushing in and out and unlikely to be in the kitchen at the same time. It’s very well-behaved. Packs up well for a picnic, too.
That’s what happened this Friday. Not a picnic – but the kind of crazy evening where something left on the side was the only way to go.
I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say I like onion. I don’t include parsley – but that’s because I think the green flecks spoil the paleness of it all. I prefer a floury potato and I don’t soak away the starch.
I peel my potatoes. You can cube or slice them – I slice. You wouldn’t believe how so few ingredients could divide so many people …
Even the choice of oil is contentious. Mine is a really unpretentious sunflower oil, but I also use a good but not extra virgin olive oil. I think olive oil has the edge, but you’d need to be eating examples side-by-side to tell. I use a large frying pan/skillet (it really is a ‘skillet’ as I’ve embraced the cast iron Lodge import having discovered them in a brilliant shop near Seb’s university) and put in about 2cm/¾” (ish) of oil. What you want is for the oil to just cover the potato, whether you’ve cubed or sliced it. I fry in batches, so as not to reduce the temperature of the oil too dramatically.
It’s similar to how I cook my chips. And, when you stop to think about it, this really isn’t a million miles away from ‘egg and chips’. No wonder I like it.
Take your time. Fry gently. You want the potato to be completely cooked through but with no colour. Don’t rush it.
When the first batch is done, lift out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a sieve set over a bowl. Then, on with the second. I fry my potatoes in three batches. When my third and final batch of potatoes is almost done, I add the finely chopped onion. Like the potato, it needs to be soft but uncoloured.
Scooping out finely chopped onion is difficult-to-annoying so pour the final batch of potatoes, onion and the hot oil into the sieve. Be careful! Really. Leave to cool in the sieve. (The longer you leave the potatoes and onions to cool, the stronger the taste of onion you’ll end up with.)
Break the eggs into a large bowl and add a little salt. I like ½tsp of malden sea salt, but you’ll have to adjust to your salt (because they are not equally ‘salty’) and palate.
When the potatoes are cold enough to touch they can be added to the egg. Empty the sieve contents into the large bowl of beaten eggs.
Stir together – gently. The cooked potato slices are at risk of breaking up if you’re too heavy handed.
Use a small frying pan. Mine is 20cm, which is a little under 8 inches. Don’t go larger than 24cm or you’ll have trouble ‘flipping’ and a traditional Spanish Tortilla is deeper than an Italian frittata. Aim for the potato/egg mix to reach the lip of the frying pan. Press down. The potato should be tucked beneath the egg.
When the edges of the tortilla have started to ‘set’, cover loosely. My milk saucepan has a lid which does the job nicely, plus it has a see-through lid. That’s useful. Cook over a gentle heat until the top of the tortilla has set. As in, very little runny egg left. How long is a bit difficult to say as it will depend on how high a heat you’re cooking over. Don’t rush it. Keep the heat low as that will stop the bottom catching before the top is set.
Getting ready to flip. Just loosen the edges with a spatula.
Then place a clean plate over the top. It’s easier if it’s significantly larger than the frying pan. Until you’re confident it might make sense if you do it over the sink, but it’s really not difficult. Just do it.
The flipped tortilla has a little bit of juice. Try and save that. Put a little bit of the oil in the frying pan and tip in the juices. Then ease the tortilla back into the frying pan.
Now what was the top is the bottom and the bottom is the top. Again a low low heat. Over cooked egg has the texture of leather. Keep the whole thing moist.
When the underside is set, it’s time to tip it back out. Even if you’re serving your Tortilla Española warm, give it 10 minutes to settle before you cut it.
If you’re channelling a Spanish vibe you might want to cut into cubes, pierce each one with a cocktail stick and serve with chilled sherry. But, for a busy Friday night supper, I made three tortillas, served them cold and cut into slices. I love this with a simple Spanish tomato sauce (Sofrito) and a green salad.
Eat.
Tortilla Española
Makes 20cm tortilla.
- 4 medium potatoes (between 700g-750g), peeled.
- olive oil for frying
- 1 small spanish onion, finely chopped
- 4 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon of malden sea salt
Slice or cube the potatoes. In a large frying pan, heat enough oil to fry the potatoes. Fry in batches, over a low heat, until the potato is completely soft and showing no colour. As each batch is cooked, lift out the potatoes with a slotted spoon and transfer to a sieve placed over a bowl. When the final batch of potatoes is almost soft, add the finely chopped onions. When everything is soft, carefully tip the entire contents of the frying pan into the sieve. (The oil can be re-used.) Leave the potatoes to cool.
Break the eggs into a bowl and add the salt. Lightly beat together. Add the potatoes and onion and gently stir.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 20cm frying pan and tip in the potato and egg mixture. Use the back of a spatula to make sure all the potato is covered with egg. Fry over a low heat. When the edges start to set, loosely cover with a a lid. Fry until the top has almost set.
Cover with a large clean plate – and flip.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the frying pan. Tip the ‘juices’ from the plate into frying pan and gently ease the tortilla back into the skillet. Fry gently until the underside is coloured. Keep everything moist.
Tip out onto a plate. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or cold.
Eat.