Rouxbe

I am so nuts about this tortilla that it is actually threatening my love for the thai prawns. I've made it three times and each time it has been fantastic. My only caution is that you truly have to follow the method outlined of how to cut the potato. I was a little cavalier last time and came up with some wonky potato shape that threatened the tortilla's integrity.

I made this today for lunch and it was fantastic. Recipes that are so satisfying and contain few ingredients are keepers. I substituted black pepper as I'm not a fan of white. This will be a fun dish to take on a picnic. Thanks!

I have made this dish from memories as a child in my Gra-MaMa & Gra-PaPa's kitchen. Only without the oven-dried tomatoes. (this is an added touch) I remember avacado wedges and diced nopalitas served on the side. But this is an excellent recipe. Thanks!

Congrats from Barcelona ( Spain ).
We usually don't put pepper, but the recipe it's perfect !

Congrats !

A really good job of course !!! Great cook and excellent performance.

Good try. But we don´t use pepper, and it doesn´t look exactly like a tortilla de patatas.

I flipped it and and a bunch of hte egg came running out, dripping out everywhere. What a mess! More practice?

You must flip with confidence, and in one clean motion. Also your plate (the flatter the better) must be bigger than your frying pan. But in the end you are right, practice does make perfect. Good Luck next time!

I'm spanish & i found 2 wrong things:

there is no proportion in the video eggs-people

first is that u have to do it with much more oil

I didn't have any idea what to make for dinner, then I thought - yeah, three ingredients - Tortilla de Palatas. It sure impressed everyone. Had no problems with the instructions and it turned out beautiful. I served it with homemade salsa and salad. I will be making this again.

For traditional dishes like tortilla or paella, there are as many recipes as cooks in Spain. However, this is very close to the "canon" recipe. The main differences are that we don't normally put pepper, and the potatoes are usually deep-fried over medium heat and then drained. However, I find this way of cooking the potatoes a less oily alternative, and gives the same (if not better) results. As for the proportions, the classic recipe calls for one potato and one egg per serving, plus an aditional egg, so the proportions here are correct imho. A nice trick is to fold the beaten eggs and the potatoes when the potatoes are still hot, and then let the mixture cool down to room temperature. This way the flavors meld toghether and the egg cooks a little, giving a more creamy texture to the tortilla.

Congratulations!

Recipes are inspiration, people, not infallible programs. You can and should try different things.

I had seen this video some time ago and hadn't tried it. Then, a few weeks ago, I had some boiled potatoes left over, and I thought..."Why not try that recipe?" I never looked it up again, though, so I totally missed that the potatoes are fried, not boiled. I just cut them to about the right size, mixed in egg, onion, green peppers, a little cheese and some chopped sausage. My finished tortilla wasn't nearly as nice as this one, but who cares? It was fantastic!

Joaquin R., above, says "...let the mixture cool down to room temperature. This way the flavors meld toghether and the egg cooks a little, giving a more creamy texture to the tortilla."

Is this the reason for 15 minute wait after plating the tortilla? I'm concerned the tortilla will grow cold and not taste as good if it were fresh out of a hot pan.

The way around that, AFAIK, would be to hold the tortilla in a warm (but not hot) oven. Or am I missing something?

When I lived in Spain the Tortilla was always room temperature. Sometimes it was warm, but mostly because I couldn't wait that long.
I say try it both ways warm and room temperature and stick whichever way you like it better. For me I like it closer to room temperature. But not the next day...it's always better the same day.

I'm sorry I didn't explain myself correctly, Ken. Once the potatoes are cooked, put them in a bowl and pour the beaten, raw eggs over them while the potatoes are still hot. Fold everything together and let sit for a while. This way the potatoes moisten and the eggs cook a little. Then turn the heat on and actually cook the tortilla, following the instructions in the video. This is the way I was taught to do it, but of course you don't have to follow that if you are in a rush, as the tortilla will be delicious anyway. You can also try different variations, like adding chopped garlic (to the the onion) and parsley or cilantro (when folding the eggs), or you can do it countryside style adding chorizo (red sausage) and bell peppers. Also try halving the amount of potatoes and adding blanched baby spinach, pinenuts and raisins.

For me, the perfect temperature is a little bit warm, but that's a matter of personal taste.

Thanks for the reply, Joaquin! I appreciate it.

One variant to this recipe I want to try is adding chopped leeks sauteed in butter, and then adding hot sauce to the tortilla as it cooks--enough to flavor but not overwhelm the taste of the eggs and potatoes.

It was a ver easy recipe. Thanks.....

Hi Rouxbe,

I made this last night. It turned out pretty tasty, but somewhat less beautiful than the one in the video (as can be expected with an inexperienced home cook like myself).

I'm wondering: I don't have any non-stick pots or pans, and used cast iron when I made it. Even though I thought I kept it moving okay and oiled the pan adequately, it stuck, resulting in chunks of potato falling out when I flipped it, and I had to work to get it to release from the pan. Any tips for inexperienced folks like me when it comes to using cast iron (or any non-non-stick surface) for cooking this recipe?

In retrospect, I think my pan was too hot, but I'd like to know what more experienced cooks think.

Thanks!

This recipe needs to be cooked in a non-stick pan, with rounded sides.
It is mentioned in Step 2 of the video, but I will add it to the text recipe as well. Thanks so much!

Hi Rouxbe!, i´m from Spain. As somebody said above, there are so many different ways to cook tortilla as cookers. But we used to deep fry the potatoes, adding the onion to the fry pan a few minutes later than the potatoes, becuase the onion get burnt easily. I never heard about adding pepper. You can add parsley intead of pepper, we do in the south of Spain.
Other popular versions in Spain are adding green peppers, or chorizo. Or if you don´t like onion you could substitute this for garlic.
I like tortilla when it´s still warm, some people like it cold. But it´s always better to eat it at the same day.
Enjoy!

Hi! I'm also from Spain and I'm with all of them, we usually deep fry the potatoes and then drain the excess oil. I will, however, try to do it the way shown here (it will have to be just for me, because my family won´t hear of it! :-) ), because of the lower fat.

There are also a good load of different ingredients to add to the tortilla: you can make two thinner tortillas and make a "ham and cheese" sandwich with them, placing ham and cheese in between the two tortillas.

Then, you can make "tortilla paisana", which adds to the tortilla ingredients chorizo, chickpeas, red pepper, all of it fried together with the potatoes and onion.

There are also people who don't like the tortilla with onion. The tortilla comes out a bit drier, but it's still delicious.

Good luck!!

This was delicious and very easy to make. I think deep frying the potatoes would have made this too greasy. I love the idea of adding chorizo or spanish ham to this dish. It would make it more of a main course rather than a tapas or side dish.

I followed the directions perfectly and it came out looking like it did in the video. Although I forgot to add salt before I added in the eggs! So it could have used a little more. I will be making this again soon.

Hello from sunny Alicante (Spain)! I am new here. This is my first comment and I will be brief and straight to the point:

1. I agree with all other spaniards about pepper and deep frying potatoes but I can tell I have seen people who fries potatoes this way, making it sweat, and, personally, I prefer it this way.

2 Tortilla de patatas (aka Tortilla Española) is a spanish symbol for us. We are 45 million spanish people: there are 45 million recipes of it. It is usual that in a house party you can try tortillas from different people in a kind of gentle (...or not) competition.

3 My tip: it is easier to flip if you first scratch the pan after adding the eggs. This way you mix the cooked egg from the bottom with the raw egg in the middle and it gains consistency. The pan should be quite hot at the begining to do this and lower after.

4 Favourite variation: add diced zucchini to the onion. This is a must on my Eastern picnics!!

5 At home, we like to garnish it with anchovies and a salad of roast sweet red peppers.

Wow! That's alot of tortilla de patatas, you are definitely right that there are many ways people make it. Ever bar, cafe and household has their own version. I even remember buying it at El Corte Ingles (a big department store) in Barcelona when I lived there.

Thanks for the feedback Nando! :-)

I've been making fritattas of every sort, including my version of this wonderful Tortilla de Patatas. I've made them in cast iron, Enameled cast iron, heavy weight non-stick skillets, and heavy weight stainless steel skillets. My failures occur when I try to use a light weight (cheap) skillet or my mom's Revere Ware. Just not heavy enough to hold and distribute the heat evenly. I have more trouble with oil sticking than with animal fats, either butter or lard (or bacon grease!).
When turning I like to use an old universal lid I got years ago, with no real lip, but a couple of low ridges. It has the handle on top which aids me greatly in stability. I make sure the egg is set all around, and on the bottom. If it sticks a bit during my exploration I gently lift to the sticky location and add a few drops of oil, butter, what have you. Set it back 30 to 60 seconds, then slip the fritatta sideways so the bottom is on the bottom of the lid. If you want to re-oil your pan, go ahead. I've never needed that step. I then turn the skillet upside down over the lid, seat securely, and flip them both together. This is where the handle on my lid comes in REALLY handy. I haven't had a failure on this step yet. I then cook either covered or uncovered, or a combination of both, until set.
Its important not to let the pan cool too much during the flipping. That hot pan is what will make sure the previous top, now bottom, doesn't stick. When done slide slickly onto your plate, serve or let cool, depending on your style of fritatta.