A less-unhealthy Spanish Tortilla

A few months ago when I was in Barcelona for two weeks – I had a pretty hard time with food (I don’t eat meat, fish or fried food!). The one thing that saved me was “batatas bravas” which is their local french-fries and tortillas. My digestion was still a mess because of the heavy use of oil, but at least I had something to eat. A few months later, Helena taught me to make a tortilla while she was here in Israel. I got very clear instructions, the do’s and the dont’s – but I was still having a hard time with the quantity of oil that went into the dish.

It’s a really nice dish to eat – quite fulfilling and high on energy – so I have modified the recipe, broke a few rules and came up with this version of a tortilla which is more suitable for me. So here we go : ) The quantities below are not exact (I improvise when I cook) – but they result in a reasonably sized tortilla with for 4.  It’s a simple dish but it does take some time – it takes me about 45 minutes!

1. Peel and slice 3 mid-sized potatoes (slightly larger then a fist) into thin slices. Place them in a small pot to cook with hot water.
2. Chop one onion (choose the size according to your flavor) and toss into
3. Heat the main frying pan –  this is a mid-size pan preferably with curved sides. Pour in olive oil – a thin layer to cover the bottom of the pan.
4. Toss the chopped onion into the pan.
5. Peel and grate one carrot and add it into the pan. Keep stirring the mix until it is cooked really well. If it gets done before the potatoes are read – then take the pan off the cooker.
6. As you wait for the potatoes and stir the onion & carrot mix get the eggs ready. You will need a bellow that can take it all – eggs, potatoes, onion and carrots.  Separate the yellows from 4 eggs. Beat the whites until you get a nice and fluffy mix then beat in the yellows.
7. When the potatoes are ready (this can be anywhere between barely edible to mushy soft – depending on what you like) get rid of the water and add the potatoes to the frying pan (if you removed the pan – place it back on the cooker).
8. Keep stirring the mix of potatoes, onion and carrot until it’s nicely mixed and cooked.
9. When the mix is ready – pour it all into the bowl with the eggs. Add as much salt as you like.
10. Pour the entire mix back into the heated frying pan.
11. Let is cook for a few minutes, flip it over (I use a big plate to flip out the tortilla and then slip it back in ). Cook the other side for another few minutes… and sit down to eat.

It’s also great to keep in the fridge and nice to eat when its cold.

The carrot was a whim, I am sure that more variations can be created. If I have any successful experiments I’ll get back and update this  🙂