Fry Pan Challenge
Winning Recipe
Tortilla Española
It just so happens that this Fry Pan Challenge winner is the quintessential Spanish tapa and a staple of every bar, café, and restaurant in Spain. The foundation ingredients are eggs and potatoes to which an additional item, onion, chorizo, jamón serrano, may be added according to personal taste or regional variation. Serves 4 to 6.
Four eggs
Two medium sized potatoes -peeled
One small yellow onion (optional)
Olive oil
Salt
Water
Slice the potatoes into thin rounds (1/8” thick), rinse in cold water, drain and dry, and lightly salt. Dice the onion.
In a medium-sized frying pan (9”-10” diameter), add enough oil to almost cover the potatoes when frying them. Bring the oil to a high heat, but not smoking; hot enough that when you test it with a slice of potato it sizzles vigorously. Add all of the potatoes and fry until golden and crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. When the potatoes are about half-way cooked, add the onion. Remove the potatoes and onion and lay them out on dry paper towel. Strain and set the oil aside.
Beat the eggs in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, a few drops of water, and whip with a fork until the whites and yolks are evenly mixed. The water will keep the eggs from browning too dark as the tortilla cooks.
Add the potatoes and onion in without breaking them up. Add enough oil to make a puddle in the pan, heat, pour in the mixture and cook over a medium-low heat until the bottom is golden and then flip over and cook the other side. To turn the tortilla, cover the frying pan with a slightly larger plate, turn out the tortilla, and then slip it back into the pan, raw side down, to finish cooking. You may have to flip it over two or three times to cook it evenly. The tortilla is done when the inside is cooked, firm and moist, not dry, and the outside is lightly golden. The tortilla will be about ¾” to 1” thick.
Slide the finished tortilla onto a plate and cut into small wedges. Eat warm or cold.