Omelette: Tortilla de patatas 'Potato Omelette'

Tortilla de patatas is as delicious hot as it is cold and is perfect for picnics, snacks, breakfast, lunch or dinner... hmmm, it may be just right at any time actually. The trick is the poaching of the potato slices in olive oil! The oil should be good quality but not heavy virgin olive oil, and just hot enough to bubble as it cooks the potato but not hot enough to turn them brown. (Apparently, poaching the potato in oil this way is also the secret to the incredibly silky potato 'fondant' you get in restaurants.)

The recipe I am giving is for the basic, authentic Tortilla de patatas, it takes a little time to do but is well worth the effort.

 

Ingredients (using a 20 cm pan):

• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons salt flakes
• 3/4 cup light olive oil (or enough to cover the slivered potatoes in the pan)
• 6 eggs

NB: You can add any other ingredients you like (chorizo, capsicum [peppers], spinach, onion, zucchini [courgette]) at the point where you combine potato and egg below- just beware of vegetables with a high liquid content, after cutting or grating them, make sure you squeeze out the liquid, then pat with a paper towel or you end up with a soggy tortilla.

L: poach potato in olive oil; M: combine with egg; R: flip over

Method:

1. peel potatoes and slice evenly, place in bowl and toss with salt (it seems like a lot of salt but it is the only seasoning to counter both the potato and the eggs)
2. heat olive oil in a deep non-stick fry pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking/ bubbling (you need enough oil to cover the potatoes, without it being in danger of the oil spilling over the edge)
3. carefully add salted potato slices and poach on medium heat until cooked through - do not let them get brown
4. strain the potatoes, reserving the oil which can be reserved & re-used
5. whisk eggs in a large bowl, add potatoes and gently combine to coat all slices wihout braking them up
6. pour egg/ potato mix back into pan and cook over a low heat for approximately 10 minutes, until more than half of the egg mixture is cooked
7. flip the tortilla* hold a plate or board against the top of the pan and flip the pan over transferring the tortilla onto the plate. Slide the tortilla back into the pan (brown/ cooked side up)... rearranging any slices of potato that tried to escape!
8. cook on this side another 10 minutes or until set (poking the top of the tortilla in the centre should feel firm)
9. slide onto serving plate and eat hot, cold or in a 'bocadillo' (slice a baguette length ways in half and toast under the grill, once golden, rub with a garlic clove and then with half a ripe tomato - the toasted bread acts as a sort of grater and soaks in the flavour - then fill with slices of tortilla and imagine you are on 'La Rambla' in Barcelona marvelling at human statues, sword swallower's or considering a tarapin or chinchilla purchase!)

* this is a very frustrating step but is one of the things that makes a tortilla a "tortilla", you can also pop it under the grill/ in a hot oven to cook but technically it becomes a frittata!