Tortilla

We make this fairly often but rarely eat it for dinner as Stephen normally takes it for lunch, it’s a great way of using up leftover potatoes but is a bit of a faff to make. My top tip (although not at all authentic) is to remove the onions from the pan once they’ve browned and then add the potatoes. This stops the onions from browning too much and sticking to the bottom of the pan. Having said that, I forgot to do that today and it still turned out well so perhaps it’s not really necessary.

The other faffy part is ensuring the potatoes are browned evenly as they tend to stick together a lot. Thinking about it, it might be a good idea to lay the potatoes out flat after you’ve sliced them so they dry out a little; more faffiness though.

Once you’ve covered all of this it’s actually a straightforwad dish to make; it’s important not to rush any of the stages though so it does take some time.

1 medium onion, chopped
275g thinly sliced potatoes (if you’ve got a mandolin then it’s much easier)
4 eggs, lightly whisked (just until the yolk and white have combined
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley

Start by sauteeing the onions on a very gentle heat until they just begin to caramelise. Turn up the heat a little and add the thinly sliced potatoes and some salt and pepper. You need to make sure you keep moving the potatoes around in the pan so they brown evenly and don’t stick. Be gentle because the potatoes have a tendency to break up as they cook through.

Once the potatoes are brown, remove them from the pan into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten eggs, a little extra salt and pepper and the parsley. Mix gently.

Heat some more oil in the frying pan and once it’s hot, add the potato and egg mixture. Cook for about 15 minutes and then flip the tortilla using a plate and a spatula. Cook for a further five minutes.

We served this at room temperature with a mixed salad which worked well. Some chorizo, squid, jamon and machego would have been really good though 🙂