Our favorite travel food is the Spanish tortilla de patatas. It is the perfect food to share with people. It is not difficult to make, and is very portable. It also happens to be delicious.
If you are from North America, you might think we are talking about the flat bread that accompanies Mexican food. Tortilla de patatas (also known as tortilla Española) is not a bread, it is an omelette. In Spain, tortilla literally means 'omelette'. Thus, tortilla de patatas is a potato omelette. Here is how we make it:
Ingredients:
- 2 large potatoes
- 1/2 large onion
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 1 litre olive oil
- salt
- baking powder
- 5-6 large eggs
*You will need a stick-free saute pan about 22 cm (9") in diameter and a plate large enough to cover the pan.
Let's get started. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices approximately 3x3x1cm (1"x1"x1/2") in size. We do this by holding the potato in one hand and ripping the slices off with a small pairing knife, but you can slice on a cutting board if you prefer. Fill your stick-free pan with olive oil. Where you live and the price of olive oil will dictate how much you can use. We will easily use 3/4 of a litre. You want to use a lot of olive oil, so the potatoes soak it up. It gives the tortilla a lot of flavor. If you can not afford to use so much oil, use as much as you feel comfortable with. But, remember that if you use the recommended amount of oil, you will remove the potatoes after they are cooked and save the rest of the oil for use later. The oil will not be wasted!
Put the pan on medium heat and start
slowly cooking the potatoes. The slower the better. You want the potatoes to be tender, but not browned. While the potatoes start cooking, coarsely chop the onion and green bell pepper. These are not mandatory, but give some color and additional flavor. Put them in the pan with the potatoes. As the vegetables slowly cook in the oil, the onion will slightly caramelize, giving a wonderful flavor.
Once the potatoes are soft and the onions are golden, you can remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon or spatula and put them in a large mixing bowl. Make sure to drain a much of the oil from the potatoes as possible. Afterwards, you can strain the oil and place it in a jar for use on the next tortilla!
Next add a teaspoon of baking powder, salt, and the eggs to the potatoes. Add salt to your taste. The number of eggs depends on the size of your potatoes, and how runny you want the tortilla mix. I usually add the eggs one at a time and fold them in gently. The final product should look like the photo below.
Now that you have your tortilla mix, you need to reheat your skillet (with the oil already removed). There should be only a small amount of oil in the pan to keep it stick free. This is the part of the process where having a stick free pan is obligatory. Put the pan on medium high heat. Heat the pan, but not to the point where the oil is smoking. Once hot, pour the tortilla mix into the pan, distributing evenly across the bottom.
The tortilla will only cook on this first side for a short period; it will only cook long enough to get a firm outer membrane. You may need to turn the heat down a little if it seems like the pan is too hot.
Once a cooked shell has formed on the bottom of the tortilla, you will need to flip it. Take a large plate, and place it over the top of the pan. Hold one hand on top of the plate to secure it over the pan. Holding the handle firmly with the other hand, flip the pan and plate over so that the tortilla flops out of the pan and down onto the plate. It is best to do this over the sink so that any spill will not make a mess on the stove or floor.
Now that the half-cooked tortilla is on the plate, you will need to slide it off the plate back into the hot pan so that the other side can get cooked. You should repeat this flipping process multiple times to keep the outside from burning while making sure that the inside gets cooked. You can keep the heat at medium low during this process.
Once you feel the inside of the tortilla is sufficiently cooked, you can flip it out onto a clean plate. The finished product will look a bit like a large wheel of cheese.
You can eat the tortilla with bread and salad, with gazpacho, or just by itself.
Enjoy!
