Tortilla Espanola (Potato Omelette)
Submitted by doofa
Spain’s beloved tortilla española: thinly sliced new potatoes and sweet onions slow-cooked in olive oil, bound with eggs, and baked until golden. Serve at room temperature for the authentic experience.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
30 minREADY
50 minWalk into any tapas bar in Spain and you’ll find this on the counter, cut into thick wedges, sitting at room temperature, waiting for you.
Tortilla española is the national dish that needs no introduction back home, but deserves one everywhere else. It’s nothing more than potatoes, onions, garlic, eggs, and good olive oil, but the way those five ingredients come together is something close to alchemy.
New potatoes get sliced thin and slow-cooked with sweet onions in a generous pool of extra-virgin olive oil until everything is soft and golden. Then beaten eggs get poured over the top and the whole thing bakes until just set, with a lightly browned surface and a tender, almost custardy interior.
Let it cool, flip it out onto a platter, and slice into wedges. That’s how they do it in Madrid, and that’s how you should do it too.
Kitchen Tips
- Use the best extra-virgin olive oil you can find. It’s not just cooking fat here, it’s a primary flavour.
- Keep the heat low when cooking the potatoes and onions. You’re gently confiting them, not frying. They should be silky, not crispy.
- Let the tortilla rest a full 5 minutes after baking before inverting. It needs time to set or it’ll fall apart.
- Serve at room temperature, never straight from the oven. The flavours open up as it cools and the texture firms to just the right sliceability.
Ingredients
Directions
Leaving the skins on, slice the new potatoes thinly.
Peel, split, and slice onions.
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil (the best you can afford).
You need a good quarter inch in your pan.
Sauté potatoes and onions and garlic on a low flame until the potatoes are soft and the onions are translucent.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place the potato mxture in a greased round cake pan, spring form pan, cast iron skillet or terra-cotta baking dish .
If you use something small, make two.
Season eggs and pour over potatoes.
Bake 20 minutes at 350℉ (180℃) F and then start testing.
When the middle is set and the top slightly brown, it’s done.
Let set 5 minutes, run a knife around the outside and invert onto a round platter.
Serve at room temperature.
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