Spicy Spanish Tortilla with Mixed Veg

Spicy Spanish tortilla half with mangetout and stem broccoli

A Spanish tortilla is simply a thick omelette, traditionally made to include onion and potato. It is nothing to do with the crisp like tortilla chips sold in foil bags in supermarkets. They are usually an inch or more thick and are cut in to wedges (like pizza) to serve, either hot or cold. I've made this one a little bit thinner to suit my purpose at the time. This recipe also sees the addition of some dried basil and smoked paprika to give the dish a little bit of extra herb and spice flavour but both are optional. It can be served with your veg of choice but the mangetout and tender stem broccoli served in this instance came conveniently together in a pack from the supermarket and were super quick and easy to cook.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

7 or 8 baby new potatoes
Salt
3 large eggs
White pepper
Generous pinch dried basil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Olive oil
1 medium red onion
Handful mangetout
Handful tender stem broccoli stalks

Directions

Wash the potatoes but leave them unpeeled then cut them in half. Add the pieces to a pot of cold salted water and bring the water to a simmer for about twenty minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked. Drain and set aside to steam off while you prepare the eggs and fry the onion. Note that it's not necessary for the potatoes to cool but letting them steam off and lose the extra moisture is essential. Alternatively, you could cook them in advance and store them in the fridge overnight to save time on the night you are eating. They would have to be fried a little longer at a later stage in this recipe in that case to heat them through.

Boiling halved baby new potatoes

Break the eggs in to a bowl and season with some salt, white pepper, the basil and the smoked paprika. Beat with a fork or small hand whisk until just combined.

Put your kitchen grill (broiler) on to preheat to its highest setting.

Eggs and seasonings for tortilla

Peel the onion and cut it in half down through the core. Lay each half flat on your chopping board and slice to around a quarter inch. Pour two or three tablespoons of olive oil in to a large non-stick frying pan or skillet and bring it up to a medium heat. Add the onion and fry it off over a medium heat for two or three minutes until the strands are separated and just starting to soften.

Starting to fry onions

Add the potatoes to the pan and fry for a further minute or two to just slightly crisp the edges (remember to fry for an extra minute or two if the potatoes have been allowed to cool).

Potatoes are added to lightly fried onions

Ensure the potato and onion pieces are fairly evenly distributed around the pan before carefully pouring in the egg mixture.

Spicy egg mixture is poured over potatoes and onion

Wash the mangetout and stem broccoli before adding to a pan of salted boiling water. Simmer for three minutes before draining at your sink through a colander.

Mangetout and stem broccoli are added to boiling salted water

After a few minutes, you will see the egg is set almost all the way to the top. At this stage, put your pan under the hot grill for a minute or two to complete the setting of the eggs.

Tortilla is almost cooked and ready to go under the grill

When the pan comes out from under the grill, you will see that the eggs have risen slightly as well as set.

Spicy Spanish tortilla

Remember not to cut the tortilla in the pan with a metal knife or you will likely damage and ruin the pan. Either slide it on to a plate for cutting or cut with a plastic spatula. It should be soft enough to do this no problem. Lay half the tortilla on each of two serving plates before adding the drained vegetables.

Tortilla half is plated

Mini Spanish Tortilla with Chorizo

Traditional Spanish tortilla in mini form with black olives and chorizo

A Spanish tortilla is normally at least an inch think, consisting of potatoes and onions in an egg base. It is often cut in to wedges - like pizza - before being enjoyed either hot or cold by a number of people. This recipe is different in that is designed to serve only one person and incorporates a couple of extra typically Spanish ingredients in the form of chorizo and black olives.

New season Jersey Royal potatoes

Ingredients

6 baby new potatoes
1/2 red onion, peeled and thickly sliced
Olive oil
3 eggs
Salt and black pepper
6 slices Spanish chorizo, 1/2 inch thick
4 black olives, pitted and halved
2 or 3 basil leaves, rolled and thinly sliced, to garnish

Red onion half is thickly sliced

Directions

Wash the potatoes and add them unpeeled to a pot of cold, lightly salted water. Bring to a simmer for fifteen minutes, drain, cover and leave to cool completely.

Cooked and cooled potatoes and red onion added to small frying pan

When the potatoes are cool, pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil in to a small, non-stick frying pan and gently heat.

Mini potatoes and red onion are gently sauteed in oil

Put the potatoes and onion in the pan and gently sautee over a medium heat until the onion strands are just softened.

Eggs are broken in to a bowl and seasoned

Break the eggs in to a bowl and season with some salt and black pepper.

Eggs are lightly beaten with a fork

Beat the eggs with a fork until just combined.

Beaten egg is added to sauteed potato and red onion

Make sure the potatoes and onion are fairly evenly spread around the pan before pouring in the beaten egg.

Spanish chorizo

Make sure you do use Spanish chorizo and not Mexican, as the latter is neither cured nor cooked.

Sliced chorizo and black olives

Cook the tortilla over a medium heat while your grill/broiler is brought up to a high heat.

Egg in tortilla is almost but not quite set

When you can see the egg is almost but not quite set all the way up to the top, lay the chorizo slices and black olives on top at regular intervals.

Chorizo and black olives are added to almost set tortilla

Put your frying pan under the hot grill/broiler for about a minute, until the egg is completely set.

Tortilla has been finished off setting and cooking under a hot grill/broiler

Slide the cooked tortilla on to a serving plate and garnish with the sliced basil.

Tortilla is plated and garnished with fresh basil

Spanish Tortilla with Bacon

There are certain times when, for whatever reason, we haven't been able to make it to the supermarket to purchase what we intended having for dinner. This may be due to time constraints, other circumstances beyond our control, or any one of a number of reasons. Today, my reason was the weather. The snow, the cold and the horrendous road conditions led to me taking a look in the cupboards and the refrigerator to see what I could come up with for dinner from the supplies I already had available and thus eliminate the need to go out.

I had plenty of eggs, bacon, onions and potatoes - among other ingredients - and quickly decided to make a Spanish style tortilla with bacon. Tortilla is a word which refers to different foodstuffs in different countries but in Spain it refers to a type of substantial omelette, incorporating vegetables, usually onions and potatoes. I had a bag of mixed vegetables in the freezer, some of which I decided I would boil up to serve as an accompaniment.

Ingredients for the Tortilla

3 eggs
4 rashers of bacon
1 medium to large potato
1 small onion
2 or 3 fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Method

A Spanish tortilla will normally incorporate the potato and onion in a chunky and rustic fashion. I decided to take a slightly different approach on this occasion and use a finer and more symmetrical approach. I therefore sliced the potato and onion to a thickness of perhaps slightly just under 1/4". I used 7 slices of potato and four of onion in this dish.

It is necessary to cook the potatoes and the bacon prior to assembling the Spanish tortilla. Cooking the onion is optional but I have in this instance elected to do so. I added some olive oil to a frying pan and fried the potato slices over a medium heat for four minutes each side, the onion slices for one minute each side and the bacon until it was cooked but only just and not crisped. Note that this should be done in batches but there is no need to keep the component parts warm as they will be reheated during the cooking of the actual tortilla.

There are clearly no rules for assembling the Spanish tortilla. What I did here, however, was firstly wipe the pan (carefully - it will be hot!) with some kitchen towel. I then added some more olive oil and brought it up to a medium heat before forming a circle comprised of a potato slice, then onion, then potato, then bacon and repeat. I scattered the roughly torn basil leaves over the top of the meat and vegetables, before beating the eggs, seasoning them well with salt and pepper and gently pouring them over the top. The forming tortilla should be cooked over a medium heat until the egg is almost completely set.

The frying pan should then be placed under a preheated, overhead grill for a couple of minutes to finish setting the egg. When this is achieved, you may wish to scatter some grated cheddar cheese over the tortilla and put the pan back under the grill just until this melts and begins to bubble.

The Spanish tortilla with bacon is then ready to be served and consumed. You can either eat it as is, or half it to serve two, accompanied by perhaps the mixed veg I have used and some pickled beetroot. You may also wish to note that Spanish tortillas are also frequently eaten cold and are every bit as delicious.