You can serve a slice of Spanish Tortilla for a weekend brunch or a quick weeknight dinner. All you need are potato, eggs, & onions and about 30 minutes or so in hand to prepare this delicacy of Andalusia.
People including my parents often why don’t I take photographs of the food, whenever I travel. I don’t take pictures of my food when I am eating at restaurant. Not here in Boston, not there – no where. I enjoy the meal prepared by a chef with gusto. There are a couple of reasons for that.
- I hate taking food pictures from iPhone.
- Restaurant lights are mostly terrible.
- With my camera it’s hard for me to get a good angle of the dish. If I try to do that, I can cause troubles for other sane people who is trying to have a good meal.
In a nutshell I hate creating troubles for other people and I dislike crappy phone pictures. So I don’t take pictures of the local cuisine no matter I am in Italy or Spain. But I savor the dish, I try to understand the flavors and how this dish was created.
I am a food photographer not an Instagrammer who post pictures of everything he/she eats.
I prefer to enjoy the moment of eating and when I am back home I try to create the dish. Around last December, mom said on the phone “Have you ever heard of Spanish Tortilla?”
I thought Spanish tortilla will be close brother of Mexican tortilla so I promptly replied “No. I have no mood to learn another flat-bread recipe.”
Mom tried to convince me “No, it’s an egg based dish.”
A few days later the food editor, Sheryl brought Spanish Tortilla for an office potluck. That’s the first time I had Spanish Tortilla and I fell in love immediately. When we were in Spain as soon we landed we tried it. But we had the best Spanish Tortilla in Cordoba from “Bar Santos”. In Spain, it’s called as “tortilla de patatas” or “tortilla Española”.
A few facts about Spanish Tortilla
- It has no relations with Mexican flour/corn tortillas. You can relate it to frittata.
- It can be served warm, cool or at room temperature (We prefer it warm).
- It’s not a potato omelet as it has more potatoes than egg.
- It can be served as brunch, lunch, dinner, snack or tapas. Spaniards would order it as a tapas during lunch.
- Quite fast cooking time
- It can be prepared ahead (That’s what I have seen in Bar Santos)
Cooking notes:
- This recipe works best with low starch potatoes such as Yukon gold or red bliss.
- (Important) Make the potato slices very thin – thicker slices will result dry tortilla.
- The potatoes need to be cooked with a generous amount of oil. But, don’t worry much about the oil as most of the oil will stay at the pan.
Recipe of Spanish Tortilla
Don’t get intimidated by the oil amount. More than 1 1/2 cup will be left after frying.
Serves 4
5 yukon gold potatoes, peeled
1 medium red onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups olive oil *
3 eggs
Equipments needed
- Clean kitchen towel
- Big mixing bowl
- Plastic Colander
- Whisker
- Deep pan for frying and a non-stick skillet
- Cut the potatoes in quarters first. Then slice them finely. They should look like the slices shown above in the picture. Transfer the potato slices to a clean kitchen towel. When all potatoes are chopped, roll the towel and gently release the potato slices in a big mixing bowl.
- Add diced onion, generous amount of salt and pepper. With hands mix it well.
- Over high heat, heat 2 cups oil to a deep non-stick pan. Add onion and potato and lower the heat to medium-high. Cook it for 7 to 8 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
- Transfer them to a plastic colander and drain the excess oil by reserving 2 tablespoons oil.
- In a mixing bowl, add eggs, salt and pepper. With whisker, stir to mix the eggs. Transfer the potato mixture to that bowl and gently mix them.
- In a non-stick skillet over high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the potato mixture and cook it for a 45 seconds to a minute or until the bottom start to settle. Shake the pan gently to make sure the tortilla has not sticked to the bottom. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook it for 7 to 8 minutes or until the middle is less wobbly. Take it aside from the heat, put a plate on top of the skillet. Put a kitchen towel on top of skillet and gently turn it over. Your tortilla should be on the plate now. **Use kitchen towels, otherwise your hand can get burn**
- Slightly slide the tortilla back to the pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes, or until the other side is cooked through. Take it aside in a big plate. Cut a slice and serve warm with a quick tomato salad (chopped tomato, salt, lemon juice, parsley).
Video how to flip the tortilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9IqCjV6mA
Helpful Link: http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/spanish-tortilla.aspx?pg=0
Uhhff!!! the pottery and tortilla overhead view pic is taking my breath away…beautifully captured.
Lovely recipe Dol! And stunning clicks as always!
Love fritattas and this spanish version looks and sounds great for brunch. In love with the first shot, dolphia!
I am a big fan of your recipes and work Shumaila! Much thanks for your comment.
Look so good 🙂
So scrumptious looking! I love tortilla. I love the pottery and the shot of the onion.
Cheers,
Rosa
I love tortillia – and this is often my go to quick lunch or dinner when the fridge is falling short of ingredients. I can pretty much scrape whatever is in the fridge and just make a fantastic tortillia. I can also understand your hesitations about not wanting to take images in restaurants. I feel awkward too when all eyes are on me – “What’s that weirdo doing?” HA!
Wonderful recipe.. and pics too..
Awesome clicks and a lovely recipe