Tortilla Espanola / Tortilla de Patatas

Tortilla Espanola/de Patatas is Spanish for Spanish Omelet/Potato Omelet. This typical Spanish dish consist of eggs, potatoes and sometimes onions and can be found in various Spanish eateries and are often served as Tapas or Pinchos (on a stick).

My friend Chris has made it in the past during one of his parties and I think I might have tried it at a Tapas place here as well. And I’ve always enjoyed eating them. It somehow tasted so much better when we had it in Barcelona @ SaGardi. It must be the feel of savoring Spanish food in Barcelona! Haha!

Anyway, I thought this would make a perfect appetizer to serve my guests as a teaser for my Halloween dinner. I found the recipe from the book “Everyday Tapas” and made some changes to the recipe. Here’s the modified version of the yummy Tortilla de Patatas!

TORTILLA ESPANOLA / TORTILLA DE PATATAS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb Red Skin Potatoes (Or any waxy potato)
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1-2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• 1 Cup Olive Oil

Method:

Peel potatoes and cut it into cubes (slightly larger than 1/2” cubes).  Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan (just large enough to hold the potatoes). Once oil is hot, add potatoes and onions and cook over medium low heat. You want to make sure that the potatoes are all submerged in oil. Add garlic into the oil about 5 minutes after that and continue cooking potatoes. Stir occasionally so that the potato pieces do not clump together. Cook potatoes until they are tender but not crisp or browned.

Meanwhile beat eggs lightly in a large bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Drain the cooked potatoes and onions in a strainer over a bowl. Set the oil aside for frying omelet. Gently stir in potatoes and onions into the beaten eggs.

Wipe pan clean and heat about 1-1/2 tbsp of the reserved olive oil. When oil is hot, add the egg mixture. Cook eggs over medium low heat for about 3-5 minutes or until the underside is set and slightly browned. Loosen tortilla occasionally from the bottom of the pan to refrain from sticking.

To cook the other side of the tortilla, cover it with a plate (large than the pan) and quickly turn the pan upside down so that the tortilla falls on the plate. Do this away from the stove, over the sink and watch out for hot oil.  Slide the tortilla onto the pan and continue cooking tortilla until it’s set and browned.

Remove cooked tortilla from pan and let it cool before cutting it. You could cut it up into wedges or squares. Garnish with some parsley sprigs if you liked. Serve either warm or cold.

June’s Comments: I covered the omelet when I was cooking the first side. I prefer to have a thick omelet, hence I used a smaller pan just enough to fit the potatoes and egg mixture to cook the tortillas. I ended up with about a 1” thick tortilla. I cut my tortilla de patatas into 1-1/2” squares and placed them on slices of French loaves (about 1/2” slices).

If you’re unable to find red skin potatoes, any waxy potatoes will work fine for this recipe. A good substitute would be Yukon Golds. Do not use Russet or Idaho Potatoes for this recipe!