Tortilla Patatas

Food & Drink
1

I’ve been a fan of these since a visit to stay with a fairly well to do family in Spain back in 1977. Their cook would make them every day and they could be eaten hot or cold, had a slight sweetness (from the caramelised onion) and if got right, kept a tiny bit of runny yolk.

I’ve taken to making them here having had a nice one again when visiting Spain just before the Covid crisis arrived.

This guy keeps it fairly simple.

You start out with finely chopped potatoes (3) and onion (1)

image
image1080×608 171 KB

You need 500mL of hot oil & to put the onion in first

image
image1080×608 163 KB

Then add the potato and fry stirring occasionally for 15 minutes

image
image1080×608 164 KB

Meanwhile break eggs into a bowl.

image
image1080×608 113 KB

The drained potato onion mix is stirred into the egg with a little seasoning and allowed to rest for 15-20 minutes.

image
image1080×608 139 KB

Then poured into a hot pan and fried, hot for a minute then on a lower heat for 1 min 30 before turning over and given the same on the other side.

Turned out onto a plate

image
image1080×608 182 KB

Here with a bit of ratatouille & brocolli although it’ll go with anything & is just as nice eaten cold the next day.

image
image1080×608 128 KB

I was using quite a large diameter pan so this was a little thinner than it can be but it really is delicious & pretty easy to do. Another for the ‘food of the gods’ category imho.

19 Likes
2

Do you toss? (Apologies for the personal question)

3

Not brave enough sadly. :grinning:

4

There’d be a case for investing in a heavy iron skillet to do these properly as you want to hold the temperature of the oil up when you throw that much chopped potato into it…

1 Like
5

This is what we do: https://youtu.be/AaJeW7qHOsc

Mentioned in another thread was this: BBC Two - Remarkable Places to Eat, Series 1, San Sebastian but i dont think the clip is available any more

here is one made like that with some spinach

20210131_131749
20210131_1317491312×2329 513 KB

potato and onion

20210116_131633
20210116_1316331561×2773 585 KB

2 Likes
6

Looks great, I love the simplicity of it.

I was wondering what to do for dinner this evening, this is now the answer. Think I’ll make some coleslaw to go with it.

2 Likes
7

It’s very easy to overcook it so be careful. Last one I made I went with the 1 minute then 2 minute timing shown in that Youtube video but for me 1m30 for the 2nd bit of cooking works better* In my pan anyway. Yours may vary. Post pics of your result. :+1:

  • I guess it depends on the diameter of your pan & therefore how thick the omelette is turning out. Smaller diameter, thicker omelette may need slightly longer
2 Likes
8

It will be a 12" pan - I’ll try it with your timings and see how it goes.

There’ll be leftovers for tomorrow’s breakfast :grinning:

(or tonight’s supper)

9

You’ll easily eat it in one evening!

1 Like
10

I suspect you will be proved right!

11

Interesting. That guy at Bar Nestor gave it only a little over a minute on each side and that for a fairly thick tortilla.

12

theirs is served very wet in the middle iirc - I thought the narrative said 6 mins…

we do ours for about 4 mins a side, low heat

the BBC programme (no longer available) gives a better idea of how he cooks it and the end result.

13
1 Like
14

I was just watching the timecode below the film as it played

1 Like
15

to be honest we don’t time ours at all, just done by eye and feel. Louise thinks it is closer to 2 to 3 minutes per side for an 8 egg omelette in a 24cm saute pan

1 Like
16

You could treat yourself to one of these.beauties…Or perhaps the 26cm version

4 Likes
17

this works perfectly well

https://www.cs-catering-equipment.co.uk/vogue-saute-pan-aluminium-non-stick-240x70mm

1 Like
18

You recall correctly, I’ve found they get runnier the further north in the country you go.

19

runny in the middle is good imho.

1 Like
20

Agreed, we went to a cafe in Bilbao that had a variety for breakfast. I had a slice each of chicken and mushroom, both very nice.