If you have never tried a Spanish Tortilla before, now is the time! I am going to show you how to prepare a classic version, even though at first sight you think it’s just another omelette (which is kind of true) a little bit more time is needed to make a tortilla…like a lot of things in life, good things come to those who wait…

Spanish Tortilla

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 4-5 x New Potatoes (Golf ball size)
• 1 x Onion
• 3 x Eggs
• Salt
• White pepper
• Olive Oil

Method

Peel and dice the potatoes into quarters, rinse under cold water then pat dry with some kitchen roll. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan and set on a low heat. Add your potatoes.

We don’t want to ‘hard fry’ the potatoes, rather we want to slowly cook them to soft while they soak up that delicious olive oil.

Keep them moving every few minutes so they cook evenly and after about 15-20 minutes check them by pushing a fork into one. If they have softened but are still firm in the middle move to the next stage.

Cut your onion into medium sized slices and add to the pan. We are going to continue the slow cook for another 15-20 minutes as the onions should be caramelised perfectly at the same time as the potatoes being done.

After this time the potatoes should be cooked through while retaining a little bite and your onions should be soft and starting to colour.

Now beat your eggs with a good pinch of salt and white pepper. I use white pepper as it is not as harsh as black and just adds a lovely savoury to the dish.

Spread out your potatoes and onions evenly across the frying pan and sprinkle a little salt to season them. Now pour your eggs in and turn up the heat!

Being careful not to burn the bottom but don’t worry if a few onions blacken…adds to the flavour! Once the tortilla has set wiggle your pan around to move it about. When the centre is not quite set, so not liquid but not yet solid sort of like loose jelly, we are ready to serve.

If you are cautious about eating semi raw egg or live somewhere which suggests that you don’t, flip the tortilla or put under a grill until fully cooked through.

Put a plate over the frying pan and flip your tortilla onto it. Simply serve and enjoy.

I hope you will give this a try and that you love it as much as me and millions of Spaniards…Lunchtime doesn’t get much better than this!

Remember to tell me how the recipe worked out for you in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Spanish Tortilla Recipe appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

Being back in Blighty and having a lunchtime hankering for one I decided to create one that could stand up to any of the traditional versions I had tried before. Looking online at recipes it appeared they have the basic ingredients right, but none of the recipes I found were technically correct based on my extensive experience.

You see just throwing the ingredients in to a pastry envelope just won’t cut it for me. Also I wanted to put my twist on this classic bringing a British touch to this Spanish classic. I have options for the old school style but try it my way…trust me it’s good

This delicious snack is best prepared with a little time, so get your aprons on, prepare to get a little messy and let’s get on with my recipe. You’re gonna love it!

Empanada de ‘addock

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 180g x Fresh Smoked Haddock*
• 1 x Medium Onion
• 1 x Medium Green Bell Pepper**
• 3 x Regular Fresh Tomatoes
• 1 x Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
• 2 x Tablespoons Good Olive Oil
• 1 x Good Pinch of Sea Salt
• 1 x Good Pinch of Black Pepper
• 1 x Pack of Shortcrust Pastry
• 1 x Egg

* You can use any white fish or tuna fresh or canned (the classic in Spain uses canned!)

** The classic recipe uses red bell pepper

Method

Dice up your onion and pepper into small cubes then put into your frying pan with the olive oil. Fry on a medium high heat and keep them moving in the pan so they don’t catch.

After about five minutes test a piece of pepper and if it has lost its raw taste and texture turn of the heat and remove one third of the mixture to a bowl and set aside. If they still taste a little too fresh and crunchy keep testing every minute or so until they are ready.

Take you tomatoes deseed them and roughly chop, then add them to the pan and get the heat back on medium high.

Keep stirring as we want to remove the liquid and get those tomatoes frying. See all that steam? That’s them boiling. When the tomatoes, onions and peppers start to fry we will get some caramelisation happening giving you wonderful flavour.

After about 6-7 minutes or once the tomatoes have lost about 50% of their volume and have an orange/yellow tinge, take them off the heat.

Let the mix cool down while your get your blender out. Once touch cool add them to the blender with a splash of water to get the mix moving and blend into a thick liquid. Now add the mix back into the pan.

Now taste and season with a salt, black pepper and add your teaspoon of smoked paprika. Now cook this down on a medium heat until a thick paste is formed. Taste again and adjust seasoning if required.

NOTE: Some supermarket tomatoes aren’t that great, so feel free to add a tiny touch of sugar to sweeten the paste.

Let’s build empanadas!

Unroll your pastry on a floured board and cut out 18cm (7 inch) diameter discs. You should get at least three from a standard ready roll pack, though you will need to re-roll the offcuts from the first two discs.

Now spread some paste in the middle of each disc and sprinkle on one third of the fried onion and pepper you set aside earlier.

Chop your fish into ½ cm square pieces and divide evenly between the empanadas.

Whisk up and egg to make a wash and brush all the way round the edge of the disc. Fold in half and seal the edge using your finger or the prongs of a fork.

Use the remaining egg wash to glaze the tops of your empanadas.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180C (350F or Gas Mark 4) for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Now eat and enjoy!

That haddock with the paprika gives a double hit of smoky goodness which matches perfectly with the sweetness of the tomato, pepper and onion mix. I think you’ll agree a little British touch to this Spanish snack can make a world of difference in the taste department.

Please remember to tell me how this recipe worked out for you in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Empanada – The Spanish for Pasty appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator