Guest post by Carina of The Jet Set
What’s a tortilla? Something flat that you wrap around meat and beans? Hardly. A Spanish tortilla, a potato pancake, that is pretty much the national snack. It’s so simple. My childhood memories are of my abuela or mom tying aprons around their waists and using a paring knife to thinly slice bits of potato into hot olive oil. Soon, the hot tortilla would slide out of the pan and into our little bellies. The ingredients are basic and so versatile. Serve it hot, cold, or room temperature. Some people put a slice of tortilla in between bread for a sandwich. Those people are usually men. In Spain we leave it out on the counter and just slice off pieces as the mood strikes.
I used a well-seasoned 12” cast iron skillet for this recipe. You could also use a non-stick pan. If it’s a smaller pan, use less ingredients (ex., 4-5 potatoes instead of 6-7; 1 tablespoon oil instead of 2.) A non-stick pan may need less olive oil.
Recipe for Spanish Tortilla
1 small yellow onion
5-8 yellow potatoes depending on their size (don’t use russets if you can help it, they make a dry tortilla)
5 eggs
Salt
Olive Oil
Optional ingredients: I used 1 tsp of smoked paprika here (pimenton.) Other things you can include: peas, roasted red peppers, spinach, ham, bacon, whatever! No cheese; we’re not Italian.
1. I cut the larger potatoes in half, and then used a mandolin slicer to quickly make uniform slices of the potatoes. If you don’t have one, try to cut the potatoes as evenly and thinly as possible (but those slicers are only about 10 bucks, so you might want to invest.) Peel the onion, trim the ends, slice in half, and thinly slice it, too. Toss the potatoes and onions with ½ tsp of salt and a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Heat about ¼ cup of olive oil in the pan over medium low heat for at least 5 minutes. Add about 1/3 of the of the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Cook them on medium low. Yes, MEDIUM LOW, until they are translucent. Stir them regularly–do not allow them to brown; you’re not making hash browns. Set them to drain over a paper towel-lined plate. Cook the rest of the potatoes the same way, adding a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the pan each time.
See the potato slice on the left? It’s cooked perfectly, you can see the pattern of the plate almost through it. The slice on the right is raw. Taste your cooked potatoes, are they adequately salted? Good.
3. Beat the 5 eggs with a fork until combined. Add ½ tsp salt. Add all the potatoes into the bowl and stir around.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl around, make sure to get the sides. Pour in the eggs and potatoes. Let them cook for about 5-7 minutes, covered if you like, still on medium low. Resist the urge to turn up the temp. The tortilla in the picture is ready to flip–do you see how the eggs on the edges have cooked?
5. Loosen the edges of the tortilla with a knife or spatula. Set a plate that is bigger than the pan on top. Put your hand on top of the plate, grab the handle with the other, take a big breath, and quickly invert the whole thing. Fortune favors the bold (do it fast.)
6. Add another teaspoon or two of olive oil to the pan. Remember when I told you to resist turning up the temp? Yeah…I turned it up and it got a little dark. No big. Take your inverted tortilla and slide it, raw side down, into the pan. Cook another 4 minutes and invert the tortilla back onto your plate.
While your tortilla is cooking, you should make some aioli–a garlic mayonnaise.
Aioli – a Garlic Mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic (I put mine through a press)
2 egg yolks (yes, raw, deal with it)
1 tsp Dijon mustard (forgot to put it in the picture)
½ tsp salt
Juice of half a lemon
Olive oil
White whine vinegar (maybe)
1. Put the yolks, garlic, mustard, salt, and lemon juice into your food processor or blender. You can do it by hand, too, but it just takes a little longer.
2. Turn on your food processor and add a slow stream of olive oil until the mixture thickens.
It should look like this above. Taste it and add more salt, or a few dashes of vinegar if you think it needs it. Does it taste good and strong? Good.
Cut your tortilla into wedges, serve with the aioli. A green salad is the perfect accompaniment. If you want to be really Spanish, toss the salad with just olive oil, red wine vinegar, and a little salt.
- 1 small yellow onion
- 5-8 yellow potatoes depending on their size don’t use russets if you can help it, they make a dry tortilla
- 5 eggs
- Salt
- Olive Oil
- Optional ingredients: 1 tsp of smoked paprika here pimenton., peas, roasted red peppers, spinach, ham, bacon
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- Olive oil
- Optional: White whine vinegar
-
I cut the larger potatoes in half, and then used a mandolin slicer to quickly make uniform slices of the potatoes. If you don’t have one, try to cut the potatoes as evenly and thinly as possible (but those slicers are only about 10 bucks, so you might want to invest.) Peel the onion, trim the ends, slice in half, and thinly slice it, too. Toss the potatoes and onions with ½ tsp of salt and a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
-
Heat about ¼ cup of olive oil in the pan over medium low heat for at least 5 minutes. Add about 1/3 of the of the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Cook them on medium low. Yes, MEDIUM LOW, until they are translucent. Stir them regularly--do not allow them to brown; you’re not making hash browns. Set them to drain over a paper towel-lined plate. Cook the rest of the potatoes the same way, adding a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the pan each time.
-
See the potato slice on the left? It’s cooked perfectly, you can see the pattern of the plate almost through it. The slice on the right is raw. Taste your cooked potatoes, are they adequately salted? Good.
-
Beat the 5 eggs with a fork until combined. Add ½ tsp salt. Add all the potatoes into the bowl and stir around.
-
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl around, make sure to get the sides. Pour in the eggs and potatoes. Let them cook for about 5-7 minutes, covered if you like, still on medium low. Resist the urge to turn up the temp. The tortilla in the picture is ready to flip--do you see how the eggs on the edges have cooked?
-
Loosen the edges of the tortilla with a knife or spatula. Set a plate that is bigger than the pan on top. Put your hand on top of the plate, grab the handle with the other, take a big breath, and quickly invert the whole thing. Fortune favors the bold (do it fast.)
-
Add another teaspoon or two of olive oil to the pan. Remember when I told you to resist turning up the temp? Yeah...I turned it up and it got a little dark. No big. Take your inverted tortilla and slide it, raw side down, into the pan. Cook another 4 minutes and invert the tortilla back onto your plate.
-
Put the yolks, garlic, mustard, salt, and lemon juice into your food processor or blender. You can do it by hand, too, but it just takes a little longer.
-
Turn on your food processor and add a slow stream of olive oil until the mixture thickens.
-
It should look like this above. Taste it and add more salt, or a few dashes of vinegar if you think it needs it. Does it taste good and strong? Good.
Carina is a professional writer and marketer who made two boys with a mathematician. They are planning on a girl sequel this summer. When people called her childhood home, they’d mention they spoke with her maid. That’s not her maid, that’s her abuela. She blogs over at The Jet Set.
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As a spaniard, I approve of this recipe! haha, the only think I personally would add is, more ONIONS! Caramelized onions and tortilla are blissful. Good recipe!
I made Spanish tortillas yesterday (3 times). As I am terribly lazy and it was too hot to stand in the kitchen over a hot pan, I decided to cook a huge batch of potatoes and onions in the slow cooker. They turned out beautifully, so when it came to making up all I had to do was put a batch of potato onion mix into my bowl of eggs, and carry on from there. So happy, now I will make this more often because the kids love it!
You could try it, but it’s not going to taste the same.
The problem with hash browns is that they are russet potatoes, inherently drier than a yellow potato; they’re cut and processed so that they’ll get dry and crispy when you cook them; it’s the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish. By slicing the potatoes and cooking them on low heat you’re trying to poach the potatoes more than fry them. Hash browns will have a tendency to brown too quickly and dry out. To try to keep the right texture, you’re still going to have to cook slowly and in batches.
By using the 12″ skillet, I can cheat a little and only cook in two batches. It means more flipping and turning the potatoes, and using a lid, but it can be done. The 12″ is enough for one serving for 6 people.
I’m not telling you no, but I am saying it won’t taste the same. Try it and see if you like the results! (Upside: If you use shredded hash brown potatoes, onions, and a little egg, you’ve made latkes! Delicious with sour cream and applesauce.)
Y to the U to the M.
My husband served a mission in Spain for our church and I have tortillas over the 30 years we’ve married. I do use a mandolin (which I got cheap at Goodwill). I don’t if because I make tortillas for 6 people but it seems to take me forever to cook the potatoes. I wonder if there’s a lazy woman way to use some frozen hash browns to cook it in less time?
I’m from Spain and I do it the same way, the only changes are that I usually don’t put the onion and that the first flip I do is when it starts to make smoke form the edges (sorry if my English is not correct), then I flip it every 2-3 minutes for about 4-5 times till the tortilla is not so soft (I like it more when it’s not completely cooked). And we don’t eat it with allioli or mayonnaise, just the kids sometimes add ketchup, we just eat it the way it is, maybe with a salad. Nice recipe!
My husband lived in Spain for 2 years and raves about all of the food he ate while there. I have tried to be a good wife and make ethnic foods, but when faced with a giant cookbook about Spanish food, I just don’t know what to cook! This will be perfect to try this weekend! Thank you!
oh! you do the potatoes totally different than us! i am going to do them like this next time to try it out. i think my husband loves Aioli more than me ;) going to tell him to try the mustard.
I made one of those for our preschool group today!!!!! We were studying Spain, and I LOVED Tortilla Espanola when I visited Spain so I made one!!! I used almost the same recipe but I cubed my potatoes. http://urbanpioneerwoman.com/2011/04/13/the-rain-in-spain/
It’s true: the mustard is NOT Spanish, but it does taste good :)
And I, being Spanish from Barcelona, take my hat to this recipe as it is absolutely Spanish.
It was about time. :)
Forget about the mustard in the allioli tho – that’s not Spanish.
By the way, its allioli (not aioli as English-speaking countries think).
It’s so good! I wish I could eat one right now! YAY I’m so glad the recipe is published online now!
Thank you for sharing the tutorial! I love Spanish Tortilla. I have to try your recipe, looks delicious :)
I’m from Argentina and my mom made this all the time…………..not exactly the same as you do but close! I will definitely have to try your way soon!! thanks for sharing.
This is an amazing meal! Happily I’ve sampled from Carina and it’s delicious! I can’t wait to make it on my own. Especially that mayonnaise, it’s to die for!
My Mom made this throughout my childhood too (her father came from the Basque Country in Spain) but I have never even tried to make this myself. I will definitely give it a try though and report back to you!
Oh! One thing I forgot: traditionally you peel the potatoes, but sometimes I don’t. A few extra vitamins and fiber never hurt anyone.