A thick Spanish potato omelet made with eggs, potatoes and onion, served warm or at room temperature.
Slice the potatoes and onion thinly
Cook slowly in olive oil until tender without heavy browning
Drain excess oil
Beat the eggs with salt
Mix the warm potatoes and onion into the eggs
Pour into a nonstick pan and cook gently
Invert onto a plate when mostly set
Slide back into the pan and finish cooking
Rest briefly before slicing
Tortilla Española, also called tortilla de patatas, is one of Spain's most familiar everyday dishes. Its essential ingredients are potatoes and eggs, with onion included in many homes and passionately rejected in others.
The dish is thick rather than folded like a French omelet. Potatoes are first softened in olive oil and then bound with eggs before the tortilla is cooked gently on both sides.
Its exact origin is debated, but the dish became practical wherever potatoes and eggs were affordable and available. Its simplicity helped it move easily from household kitchens to bars and cafés.
Some cooks leave the center slightly soft, while others prefer it completely set. Onion, peppers or chorizo may appear in variations, but the classic debate remains whether onion belongs at all.
Tortilla can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, a tapa or sandwich filling. Few dishes demonstrate better how a modest list of ingredients can become culturally iconic.
6 servings