Tortilla Española is one of my favourite dishes to cook and eat. It’s one of those foods you can have any time of the day – it even makes a great sandwich filling. How to make a Spanish omelette well (like a Spaniard) is the challenge. With only five ingredients, it’s surprising how tricky this recipe can be.
Every time I tried, it never seemed to have the right taste, so a few years ago I asked my friend and fellow foodie, Lola, if she’d show me how (in exchange for an apple pie lesson). There are dozens of ways to make it, but here’s the basic recipe she taught me along with a few tips from others that I reckon makes the perfect tortilla every time.
INGREDIENTS:
2 large or 3 medium potatoes, peeled
1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
8 medium free-range eggs
A good pinch of salt
300ml Spanish olive oil
Makes one large or two small tortillas
METHOD:
1. Carefully slice the potato into small rounds or chips and swill in cold water before patting dry with kitchen roll. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan on a high heat until a piece of onion starts to sizzle when you drop it in.
It might look like a lot of oil but you will discard most of it later which you can reuse for other things.
2. Tip all the potatoes into the pan and give them a stir with a wooden spoon or fork to make sure they get a good coating in oil. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now place the chopped onion on top and leave for a minute or so before stirring in as well.
3. Start to break up pieces of potato with your spoon. When they are soft enough to break easily, they’re ready. Drain the oil from the pan into a jug through a sieve to use again and leave the potatoes to cool slightly.
4. Break the eggs into a large basin but don’t beat them yet.Pour the potatoes over the eggs to create a sort of lid.Season generously with salt (sometimes I also add a pinch of nutmeg for depth of flavour – a tip from another Spanish friend but by no means essential and sacrilege for purists, sorry!) and give it all a stir with a fork to break to the eggs and combine – but don’t over beat, just a few loops will do. Leave for 10 minutes or longer to develop some flavour.
5. Heat your (idally non-stick) frying pan over a medium heat with a tablespoon of the used olive oil. When it’s hot, add the egg and potato mix. The next part is down to you to judge, but when the tortilla starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and is nicely browned underneath it’s time for the big flip.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a large plate (big enough to amply cover the pan) and, using both hands – and a bit of help if needed – flip the tortilla onto the plate
Lola told me that her grandmother could flip them with a simple flick of the wrist even well into her twilight years. Now that’s a skill
7. Carefully slide the omelette back into the pan so the raw side can cook. Put the pan back on the heat for a few more minutes until the underside is browned. Invert onto a plate and cut into thick wedges to serve.
