The tortilla de patatas, also known as tortilla española, is an iconic dish of Spanish cuisine and is perfect for enjoying as a tapa alongside other small delicacies. All you have to do is put it somewhere in the house and it miraculously disappears in a short space of time. We are currently on vacation in Spain and we make sure that you can always find a piece somewhere.
Spanish tortilla tastes great hot or cold. It is delicious on its own, but can also be combined with fish, pickles, aioli and much more. The fascinating thing: Its sensational taste comes from using just four ingredients: Potatoes, onions, eggs and salt. That’s all there is to a real tortilla de patatas.
Waxy potatoes are peeled, washed and cut lengthwise down the middle. It is advisable to use large potatoes so that the pieces are not too small. Depending on the size of the potato (ours were huge), cut the halves lengthwise or not and then cut slices 3 – 4 mm thick. It is important for the texture and taste that the slices are not too thin and not too small overall. Circular slices are not suitable for the desired shape at the end.
The potato slices are immediately placed in plenty of water so that they do not change color and release some starch. The water will become cloudy, which is what you want.
Peel the onion, cut in half and slice along the grain into strips of a similar thickness.
Normally, you now heat plenty of olive oil and fry the potatoes and onions in it at a not-too-high temperature for about 15 minutes until they are soft but at most very delicately browned. We like to do it this way too, but you should reuse all the oil and the whole process is a lot of work and requires constant attention, which you don’t always have time for.
That’s why we put the potatoes and onions in a bowl with just a little olive oil and mix everything together with our hands until all the pieces are coated in oil.
The oven is heated to 200 degrees without fan and the potatoes and onions are spread out flat on a baking tray. Then we bake them at medium height for about 25 – 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft. You should check this every now and then with a knife from minute 20 onwards. If it slides easily into the potatoes, they are ready.
Eggs are broken into a large bowl, they do not need to be whisked.
The still warm potatoes and onions are added to the eggs. Any excess oil is left on the tray. Salt only now is added and then everything is mixed thoroughly without breaking the potato slices. This warms the egg mixture and makes it more viscous.
Important:
We provide quantities at the end of the recipe, including for salt and eggs. However, salt should be added according to taste and feeling, our information can only serve as a general guideline. Eggs also vary in size, so our indication may be too high or too low. This also depends on the potatoes used.
If the eggs do not cover all the other ingredients, simply add another egg. If the whole thing seems a little too runny, as was the case with us today, simply leave some of the egg in the bowl in the next step.
A large frying pan with a little olive oil is placed on a medium-high heat. We like to use a pan with as high a rim as possible so that our tortilla doesn’t end up too flat. The thicker the tortilla becomes due to your cookware, the lower the heat should be.
The whole mixture goes into the pan and is not stirred. Just smooth the surface a little. Then reduce the heat to medium. The egg inside must set without the bottom burning.
In a very large, low pan, the mixture should now be about 4 cm high. The first side will then take about 5 minutes. In a high, smaller pan, the tortilla can be almost twice as high. The heat should then be reduced a little further and you should give the first side 7 – 8 minutes.
You don’t have to estimate, you can simply check. After a few minutes, use a silicone scraper to carefully lift the edge a little and check the colour on the underside. Golden browning is allowed, black is of course undesirable.
If the underside appears done but the top is still completely runny, you can simply put a lid on and switch off the hob. The residual heat will then continue to cook the egg without anything burning. However, this is usually not necessary.
Once the underside is browned, it’s time for the only somewhat challenging part – flipping. This works in exactly the same way as we explained for Swiss Rösti:
Place a plate that is larger than the pan on top of it and press down firmly from above with one hand. With the other hand, quickly turn the pan over in one go so that the uncooked, slightly liquid side of the tortilla is on the plate.
The process can be a little unnerving, but it’s not difficult at all. Just do it confidently without thinking too much about it – and you’ll succeed.
Now let the tortilla slide back into the pan, which is very easy as the underside is still quite liquid. If necessary, you can use a silicone scraper or spatula to gently reshape the tortilla.
The other side now needs less time, again only a few minutes on a medium heat. Again, lift the edge a little to check the outside.
And then you can simply slide the tortilla out of the pan onto a plate.
It can be eaten immediately, but tastes much better lukewarm than hot and, as already mentioned, it is also a treat when cold. Many people like the core of the tortilla to still be slightly runny, but this is also a hygiene issue, at least if you are in hot Spain. In such weather, we prefer to cook our tortilla through. It is juicy then as well.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for 6 people):
1.1 kg waxy potatoes
2 onions
6 – 7 eggs
100 ml olive oil
12 g salt