This blog has been a long time coming, so sorry for the wait! Scotty and I traveled two weekends in a row–first to Palma de Mallorca (check out Scotty’s blog about the trip here!), and then to Valencia–so in the meantime I’ve really been trying to just hold my life together.

The beaches in Palma put Destin to shame
The beaches in Palma put Destin to shame
Paella is next on my list
Paella is next on my list

If you’re American (which you probably are if you’re reading my blog) the word tortilla probably brings to mind the flat, round Mexican thing that you make tacos with. Not so here in Spain! Tortilla here is an omelette, more or less. It’s one of my favorite foods and is really easy to make once you get the hang of it.

I usually like to add something to my tortilla. Be it a little cooked spinach or just some cubes of ham or chorizo, I’ve found that it really enhances an already-awesome plate. Let’s go!

What you need:

  • one new potato
  • one half of a small onion
  • two eggs
  • SALT (very important)
  • a hefty amount of olive oil
  • whatever you feel like mixing in
I chose to add tiny ham cubes (taquitos de jamón) this time

First, peel your potatoes and cut them up into chunks. They can be however thick or thin you like.

Set them aside and finely dice your onion. I like to cut mine into super tiny bits because I love onion flavor, but hate onion texture.

Then, heat a centimeter or so of olive oil in a frying pan. Once it’s hot, add your potatoes.

look how healthy this is

Cook the potatoes for two or three minutes before stirring in the onions; then, fry them all together until the potatoes can be squished with a spoon. Be careful not to let them brown! That’ll give the tortilla a weird texture later on.

Once it’s all cooked, strain the potatoes and onions out of the oil and set aside in a bowl.

You want to try and remove as much oil as possible from the potatoes at this step. I choose to use the slotted spoon to hold the potatoes back and set the bowl up at an angle so the oil drains out, but you can also drain them on paper towels. Anything goes.


In a separate small bowl, beat your eggs very very thoroughly. Pili, my roommate, assures me that it’s critical to beat the eggs sufficiently.

Pour the extra oil out of the potato bowl. Then, add your nicely-beaten eggs and a pinch (or several) of salt and stir. At this point I like to mash up the potatoes somewhat to give my tortilla a smoother texture. This is also where I mix in whatever I’m adding (in this case, tiny ham cubes.)

appetizing, right?

In a smallish pan over medium heat, heat up a small spoonful of the olive oil you have left over. Pour in your potato-egg mix and smooth it into the edges of the pan.


After 4-5 minutes (still not sure on a concrete time here) the tortilla should be ready to flip. Set a plate on top of the pan and flip the tortilla onto the plate.


Then, carefully slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook it for 3-4 more minutes.


How long you cook it really depends on how well-cooked you like it. Pili prefers hers a little crudo (raw) in the center, but I like mine fully cooked, so I leave mine on the heat 2-3 minutes longer than she does.

Here’s the delicious final product.

Enjoy!

Sabrina