Six eggs and 300g of potato make this Hairy Bikers Spanish tortilla recipe from Chicken and Egg, with one large onion softened in olive oil. And by my count and clock a wedge lands near 280 calories, feeding 4 in 100 minutes once the cooling is counted.
“Good served cold too, so great for picnics”, they write in Chicken and Egg, and room temperature is where the method leaves it. And theirs cooks the potato slowly in 2cm of olive oil, lid partly on, so the slices take on “as little colour as possible”.
Flip it only once the top is no longer liquid, because the book turns the whole pan over onto its lid or a flat plate. And the pan needs no lip, since the tortilla slides back in for 3 or 4 minutes, or the top goes under the grill instead.
Hairy Bikers Spanish Tortilla Recipe
Description
Thin slices of waxy potato and crescents of Spanish onion cook under a half-on lid in a deep pan of olive oil. Then they drain on kitchen paper, go into six beaten eggs, and set over a low heat in a tablespoon of the same oil. And after a turn onto the lid and a few minutes more, the tortilla cools to room temperature and is cut into wedges.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start the potatoes: if you like, parboil 300g of thinly sliced waxy potatoes for 5 minutes first. Then cover the base of a deep, lipless, preferably non-stick, lidded frying pan with about 2cm of olive oil and heat it. Add the potatoes and 1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced into crescents, and sprinkle with salt.
- Cook them soft: turn the heat down and partly cover with the lid. Then cook, stirring often, until the potatoes are done, which can take up to 30 minutes. Keep them as pale as you can.
- Drain: lift the onion and potatoes out with a slotted spoon and drain them thoroughly on kitchen paper, blotting if needed. Then put them in a bowl and tip all but a tablespoon of the oil out of the pan.
- Mix: beat 6 large eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, then add the cooked potatoes and onions.
- Set the base: heat the pan with its tablespoon of oil, then pour in the mixture and spread the potatoes and onions evenly. Cook over a low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the egg has set underneath and comes away from the base with a spatula.
- Flip: once the top is no longer liquid, put the lid or a large flat plate over the pan. Flip the pan over as quickly as you can, so the tortilla drops onto the lid or plate. Then slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until the bottom is just set.
- Cool and cut: turn the tortilla out and leave it to cool to room temperature. Then cut it into wedges to serve.
FAQs
Is there a Hairy Bikers tortilla with more potato?
Yes, Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves’s family tortilla in Mums Still Know Best, where 4 large potatoes are deep-fried at 170C until a fork goes through them. But it prints 2 eggs to 4 large potatoes, plus half a tablespoon of salt, which I read as a misprint and have not tried. And it comes from the same tapas pages as the tomato-sauce bravas covered on their patatas bravas page, and Tio Roberto’s gambas al ajillo.
What is the Hairy Bikers asparagus tortilla?
A potato-free one from Mediterranean Adventure, where 250g of asparagus is griddled with oil and lemon or lime, then laid on 6 minted eggs. Then it sets on the hob and finishes under a hot grill until puffed, and the book says “a wobble here and there is good”. And that is the one for asparagus season, where they find thicker stems “easier to arrange than the longer thinner ones”.
Should I parboil the potatoes first?
The book allows it, 5 minutes in boiling water before the oil, and I take it because it shortens the half hour in the pan. And waxy or salad potatoes are the book’s choice, which I find hold their slices in the oil where a floury one breaks up. And I find the finished tortilla far less oily than 2cm in the pan suggests, because the book tips all but a tablespoon out.
Can I make tortilla ahead, and how long does it keep?
Yes, because it is built to wait, and Rebecca’s version goes further with “Tortilla is nice warm but best served cold”. So I make it in the morning for the evening and cut it late, which I find keeps the edges from drying. And leftovers keep two days in the fridge by my rule, since the book gives no time, though I let a wedge warm up first.
What do you serve Spanish tortilla with?
A tomato salad, which is the book’s own suggestion, and a wedge on its own is lunch in my house. On a tapas table it goes next to their Mediterranean Adventure Spanish meatballs, lamb with Moorish spices, and the bravas above. And for a packed lunch it goes with their scotch eggs, which travel just as well.
