Spanish Tortilla

This omelette is a simple dish composed of just four ingredients. The real skill is in cooking the potatoes and onions until sweet and softened, and mixing them into the eggs, as opposed to adding the eggs to the pan. Don’t use your finest olive oil for this, though it does need to be extra virgin. And don’t be alarmed by the amount required – you do drain it off. In summer, Spaniards eat this cold, but in winter, serve it piping hot with some vegetables.

Ingreadient

• 600ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 500g White onions, thinly sliced
• 700g Floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, thinly sliced
• 6 Medium eggs

Step by step

1. Put 50ml olive oil in a 26cm non-stick frying pan. Over a low heat, gently sweat the onions for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add the potato slices to the pan along with the remaining olive oil; it should just cover the contents of the pan. Season very generously, cover and cook gently over a low heat for 30–35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Lightly whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt. Drain and discard the excess oil from the cooked potato and onion mixture, then add the vegetables to the eggs and stir to combine.
4. Return the ingredients to the pan and cook on a medium–low heat for 15–20 minutes. Once the top surface of the omelette appears firm enough, free the sides using a palette knife, place a plate over the top of the omelette and invert the pan to release the omelette onto the plate. Carefully slide the inverted omelette back into the pan and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes until cooked through.
5. Slide or invert the omelette onto a serving plate and leave to cool.