Being half Spanish, I’ve eaten many a tortilla in my life.
There’s so many ways you can eat it. It’s great for a lunch served with some salad, a dinner with some extra “bits” like I’ve done today, served in small squares and a cocktail stick for a little tapa, even in a mini baguette for a sandwich. The last way is one of my favourites and only recently discovered by Rich, who I doubt will eat tortilla any other way ever again.
Needless to say, the best ones are always homemade. There’s something a bit creepy about the super smooth ones you can buy from the supermarket in the UK! Plus you miss out on the crispy edges and rustic look of the thing. It’s also really not that hard to do and kind of impressive if you’re having people over.
There’s a lot of ways to make tortilla, but this is the way that my mum has always made it. The great thing about this recipe, is that it takes at least half the time of others, and you don’t have to worry about having bits of undercooked potato and onion in the middle of the tortilla. It does take a little bit of time standing in front of the microwave, but it’ll save you A LOT of time in the long run.
This is just the plain tortilla recipe but you can add things like:
- Chorizo – chop into small pieces and fry in the pan. Add to the mixture of cooked potatoes and onions in the bowl, mix well and then add to the pan.
- Green peppers – chop into small pieces and add to the original mixture of potatoes and onions before they go in the microwave.
- Red onion instead of white, used in exactly the same way.
- Serrano ham – cut into small pieces and add to the mixture after it comes out the microwave.
- Manchego cheese – grate and add to the cooked mixture before it goes into the pan.
🙂Yum. But the standard version is great too. Today I served it with some delicious Serrano ham that Rich’s colleague bought us from his family’s ham shop in Madrid, some pan fried Padron Peppers (Rich’s favourite tapas), and some great store-bought Nature Terrae alioli. It’s safe to say that we’re working our way through all the alioli in the UK to find the closest version to our favourite Spanish version. This one is an 8. Getting close…
Enjoy!
Grace x
Spanish tortilla
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (C) / 350 degrees (F).
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Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes and onions into very thin slices and put them into a wide-bottomed microwave-proof bowl. Cover the potatoes and onions with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover the bowl with a paper towel and pop into the microwave.
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Microwave on high for 6 bursts of 2 minutes, totalling 12 minutes. After each burst, stir the potatoes and onions around with a fork. After 12 minutes, the onions and potatoes should be soft but not mushy. If they’re not, continue the bursts in the microwave until they’re just cooked.
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When the potatoes and onions have almost finished, heat a deep, non-stick oven-proof pan on the hob on a medium-high heat. It has to be non-stick, otherwise you’ll have difficult getting the tortilla out of the pan.
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Poor the contents of the bowl into the pan and spread them evenly around. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. After 1 minute, beat the eggs with a fork and pour them over the potatoes and onions evenly.
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Cook the tortilla on the hob for 3 minutes to let the bottom of it get brown. The edges should start to bubble and come away from the pan a little bit. Pop the whole pan into the oven for about 5 minutes or until you can see the top of it is completely set.
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Pull out of the oven and loosen the sides of the tortilla with a knife. Put a small plate over the top of the pan and carefully flip it upside down. The tortilla should come out fairly easily. Serve with alioli and your other favourite tapas!
