Taste Spain | Spanish Omelette Recipe

Welcome to Mommy Maleta. We are in the fourth and final week of our Spain series. It is an exciting week because we get to taste Spain with a delicious Spanish omelette recipe.

Spanish Tortilla Making Contest

This recipe transports me back to Santander, Spain where I lived with a wonderful family for two weeks as an exchange student in high school. It was so much fun to go to high school in Spain and compare and contrast my experiences there to my life back home.

One of my many great memories from that trip was a tortilla making contest. Now I have to explain that  tortilla in Spain is not the same as “a” tortilla in Central America. Spanish tortilla, tortilla española, tortilla de patatas, Spanish omelette, or potato omelette are all words for the same dish, which is basically a puffy potato omelette, not a a round flour tortilla.

And the best, or worst some might say, part about making this omelette is that it involves a tricky flip. Basically the tortilla has to be entirely flipped after the first side is cooked. There are a few different techniques for making a Spanish omelette. This is one reason the contest was so fun.

The flip can be intimidating the first time you make this recipe. So I found this video of someone making a Spanish omelette so that you can see the entire process before you try it on your own. This chef’s technique for cooking the potatoes is a bit different from the way I was taught. He also uses less eggs than I do, but like I said, the variation and trial and error is all part of the tortilla making fun.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 2 or 3 medium sized potatoes, cut into thin slices (I like to slice the potatoes into four quarters lengthwise and then just thinly slice each quarter)
• 1-2 tablespoons diced onions
• splash of milk or half & half
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons water
• pinch of baking soda
• salt and pepper to taste
• a flat wooden cutting board, large plate, or lid to flip the omelette

Instructions

• Pour 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large (10 inch) pan.
• Let the oil heat up a bit and then add the sliced potatoes and diced onions to the pan.
• Stir the potatoes and onions and cook over medium to medium high heat for a couple of minutes.
• Add the water to the pan and cover with a lid – this will help steam the potatoes and soften them up.
• While potatoes are cooking, crack six eggs into a mixing bowl.
• Add a splash of milk and a pinch of baking soda to the eggs and whisk until well mixed and bubbly (the pinch of baking soda helps to add some nice puff to your omelette).
• Cook the potatoes until they are nice and tender. A trick that my friend Ana from Granada, Spain taught me is to machacar. I love that word in Spanish. It basically means to mash. So while the potatoes are cooking use the edge of a spatula to cut and mash up the potatoes a bit to make sure they are entirely cooked and soft.
• Pour the potato and onion mixture into the mixing bowl with the beaten eggs and stir until well combined
• Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Tilt and turn the pan to make sure the oil completely coats the bottom and sides so that the omelette does not stick to it.
• Heat the oil for 30 seconds to a minute and then pour the entire potato and egg mixture into the pan.
• As the omelette is cooking I like to run my spatula along the outer edge of the tortilla, and tilt the pan so uncooked parts of the egg drift over the cooked edges. This is another trick that Ana taught me so that the middle of the omelette cooks more thoroughly, making the flip easier.
• And now for the fun! Check to make sure the edge of your tortilla is not sticking to the pan. Then place a cutting board, or very flat lid over the pan, and turn it completely upside down. Then gently slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook for a few more minutes.
• You did it! Now all you have to do is slide the entire omelette onto a plate. Allow it to cool a bit a slice into wedges.
• And if you want to bring a little American flair to your dish, which disgusted many of our Spanish friends (though one admitted to liking it), add a little squirt of ketchup to the side of your plate for dipping. This was my husband’s idea. He likes ketchup on practically everything. And I have to say, I think it tastes good with the tortilla too.
• Serve with a salad and crusty bread.

This recipe is so basic, but just so good. We eat Spanish tortilla, or omelette, fairly often for dinner. I love that we usually have all the necessary ingredients on hand, so if I ever get caught without a plan for dinner, I can whip up this Spanish omelette recipe.

I will say that the first time you make this, it may seem a bit tricky. But after that, it becomes much easier. And because there are so few ingredients involved, you won’t have to keep your eyes glued to the recipe to make it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Spanish omelette as much as our family does. Let me know if you have any questions about how to make this dish. And also let me know what you think about this recipe after you try it! I’ll leave you with one last question before you check out the rest of the posts from my Spain series.

Does idea of flipping a Spanish omelette make you nervous?

More posts about Spain plus be sure to check out my Spain Pinterest Board…

Week 1: Explore Spain
Week 2: Meet Gabriel in Spain
Week 3: Make This Craft | Flamenco Dancer Clothespin Doll

Follow Mommy Maleta’s board Country | Spain on Pinterest.

This post was linked up over at Anderson & Grant