oven-baked tortilla española

2019-10-21+22

aka. tortilla de patata, Spanish potato omelet. If anything typifies Spanish kitchen more than paella, it is probably this potato omelet. Potatoes and onions are slow-cooked in olive oil, mixed with beaten eggs and slow-cooked in a frying pan until the eggs are cooked on the outside, still a bit moist inside. This requires a lot of eggs. The tortilla won't bind properly if there are not enough eggs.

I baked this instead of cooking it stovetop for the simple reason I didn't have a large enough plate to reverse a tortilla that big. Also, during my first attempt—stovetop chorizo tortilla—I ended up burning the eggs, even on my lowest setting. The oven did better for me.

CALORIE WARNING:
Potatoes and onions cooked in oil, a half dozen eggs. That's a boat-load of calories.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 6 servings:

4 large potatoes
2 medium onions
S&P
4-6 eggs

optional:
this is not part of the traditional recipe

diced ham
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup Swiss or other melting cheese
grated or chopped

Pic1: tortilla Española

Directions

Gather all the necessary ingredients. (Pic2)
Peel the potatoes, quarter or dice.
Do not scallop the potatoes. The slices will stick together and might not cook properly.
Peel, halve the onions. Cut them coarsely.
Combine onions and potatoes in a cooking pot. Stir to mix.
I used a small deep-fryer with thermostat for this as a safer alternative in case I got distracted.
Submerge under extra virgin olive oil. (Pic3)
I had to use almost 1 qt. oil.
Set thermostat to 250 ºF. When that temperature has been reached, cook for 15-20 minutes. (Pic4)
This is hotter than boiling water, but not nearly hot enough to fry the potatoes crisp.
Pour the potatoes and onions into a metal colander above a metal pot to catch the oil. (Pic5)
Reserve the oil.
The oil can be clarified by boiling and re-used as cooking oil.
Allow the potatoes to cool.
Do cool enough that eggs don't cook as soon as mixed with the potatoes. I refrigerated overnight, but that is not required.
Preheat the oven to 350 ºF.
Break the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs lightly.
Add the potatoes and onions to the eggs. Add S&P to taste.
Stir to mix everything together.
There should be plenty of egg visible between the potatoes.
Grease a shallow oven-proof dish.
Don't make it too thick. Better to cook 2 small thinner pies than a huge one. The thicker they are, the more problems they have with setting properly.
Stir the egg mix again and 'pour' it in the pan.
Spread it out evenly, smoothen with a spatula.
Optional:
- Add a layer of breadcrumbs and cheese on top.
Bake 10-40 minutes at 350 ºF, depending on the thickness of the pie, 20 minutes per inch.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Right after cooking, there may be a lot of liquid from the onions that makes it a bit soupy. Either pour that off immediately, or wait until the pie cools down. A lot of that liquid will get reabsorbed. The eggs will firm up when cooled.
Serve and enjoy.
I really liked the cheese crust on top.

Pic2: ingredients
Pic3: potatoes, onions, olive oil
Pic4: simmer 30 minutes

Pic5: drain the oil
Pic6: cool/refrigerate
Pic7: beat eggs

Pic8: mix
Pic9: pour, smoothen
Pic10: cheese

Pic11: baking
Pic12: baked
Pic13: served

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org