Spanish tortilla recipe (35)

I've received some suggestions of what to do with the recipes I post -but I'm going to carry on regardless ha ha.

Today I'm posting how to make a Spanish tortilla (pron: tor-tee-ya). There are two types of tortilla, Spanish and Mexican. The two dishes are very different. In Mexico it is a type of bread, similar to pitta. In Spain it is a thick omelette, not altogether dissimilar in appearance to the thick pancakes Americans have for breakfast. Here I am referring to the Spanish type.

Tortillas can be as simple or as elaborate as you care to make them. For purists, however, tortillas have only 3 ingredients, eggs, potatoes and onion. The potatoes have to be peeled, sliced into chunky pieces and softened before being mixed with the beaten egg and fried onion. The mixture is then fried like an omelette.

Opinion on how to soften the potato pieces before mixing them with the egg and onion differs too. Traditionally the pieces are fried, in much the same way chunky chips are fried in Britain. An alternative would be to boil them for 10 minutes before draining and drying them on kitchen paper. This has the advantage of not needing a large pan of hot oil in which to deep fry. So, however you like to do it, peel a few potatoes, cut them into chunks and make the pieces soft.

The onion should be chopped and fried in a little extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes to likewise soften it. Don't let it brown though.

When you have soft onion and softish potato pieces, you continue to the next stage. Break six large eggs into a bowl and beat well to aerate. add the potato and onion and mix well. Add black pepper and other spices if liked.

oil a medium sized frying pan. The tortilla is going to fry and shouldn't stick, but neither should there be extra oil floating in the pan. Heat the pan and, when oil is hot, pour in the tortilla mixture. Allow to brown on the base side. You now need to turn the fragile tortilla over in one piece. To do this place an inverted dinner plate on the frying pan and holding the plate, invert the pan. Add a little more oil to the pan while the tortilla is on the plate. Then slide the tortilla back into the pan. That should have worked quite well. You now brown the other side.

When the tortilla is brown on both sides, it's cooked. Whether you should eat it immediately or allow it to cool first is a matter of debate. Eat it in slices hot or cold with tomato sauce.

Please let me know if you try this recipe and how it turned out. There are many ways to cook Spanish tortilla. This is just how I would do it. besos, el guiri

thanks

Good man Q, one of my fave dishes. One or two points....

Six eggs is a lot for one person. I use three.

You can add other ingredients to the basic mixture to personalise it.

Also, the real secret of success is to cook it on the lowest, slowest heat. This is not something you can rush.

When turning it over, do it over a clean drain board as this makes it easier to rescue if you get it wrong.

Now then, here,s another quickie.

Chips,fried in the usual way (love mine fried in olive oil).

Slices of chorrizo (spicey Spanish sausage)

Two eggs.

Scramble the egg,throw in the cooked chips and uncooked chorrizo.
Lovely.

Here,s a healthy one.

Tons of veg,spuds,carrots,cabbage,swede,celery,garlic,onion...literally anything and everything you like. Put the lot in a big cauldron.Fill with water til the water is a couple of fingers above all the veg. Boil on a medium heat.

When it,s done throw all the veg out and keep the water.You can containerise it and freeze it. Drink like soup from a cup adding salt and fresh mint to taste. Delicious and healthy. Also you can add noodles and serve it in a soup bowl with bread. Mmmmmmmm........

Way to go Smokey

One of my fav Spanish dishes is boiled rice, tomato sauce and a fried egg. It sounds really boring but it's fantastic. There's just something about the particular flavours, especially if you use the carton tomato sauce you get in Spain.

oops - please see thread autumn blues buster. sorry smokey, crossed wires.