Spanish Tortilla Recipe (Easy Tutorial) (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in a Spanish tortilla? ›

Spanish tortilla (or Spanish omelette) is made with thinly sliced potatoes, onions, and eggs, gently cooked in olive oil. It is also known as Torta Espnaola or Torta de Patates and it is best served at room temperature or even cold, which is why it is the perfect make-ahead dish!

A note on the skillet: Traditionally, this would all be done in a carbon steel skillet, and, if you have one that's well seasoned, you certainly can use it here for both the frying and the omelette-cooking steps. If not, a nonstick skillet is your best option.

Doing it right involves gentle cooking and a daring flip—oh, and a shameless amount of olive oil. Here's how to get there. When the bottom half and outer edge of the tortilla are set, it's time to flip (the top should still be pretty wet).

In Spain, a tortilla is a kind of omelette, with ingredients added - frequently sliced cooked potato and onion. However, over in Mexico, a tortilla is a kind of flat unleavened bread.

Enriched wheat flour, Water, Vegetable oil (canola or soybean), Sugar, Salt, Hydrogenated cottonseed oil, Corn starch, Potassium sorbate, Baking powder, Sodium propionate, Cellulose gum, Maltodextrin, Carrageenan, Fumaric acid.

The Spanish tortilla is much more than a variety of bread: it is a traditional dish all by itself. Known in English as Spanish omelet, this popular collation is also called tortilla española or tortilla de patata (potato omelet) in Spanish, because of its origin and its main ingredient.

The Frittata (Italian) and the Tortilla (Spanish) are very similar. The main difference between them seems to be how the eggs are finished. Both begin with the filling and the eggs, cooked on a hob in a frying pan. The frittata is traditionally finished in the oven and the tortillas are flipped and finished on the hob.

It is not dissimilar to an Italian frittata. Nigella's version finishes cooking under the grill (broiler), rather than having to flip the omelette onto a plate and then slide it back into the frying pan to finish. For a small frying pan we would suggest using a 20-23cm (8-9-inch) frying pan.

Pro Tip: Resting for at least 15 minutes relaxes the gluten so you can roll them out into smooth discs of deliciousness. Once the dough has rested (don't skip this step!!), you are ready to roll the tortillas out and to cook them.

But he points out that preferences regarding the solidity or liquidity of tortilla are also influenced by geography. "South of Madrid, people prefer them much more set," he says. "In Andalusia, tortillas are like bricks. In northern Spain, tortillas tend to be much less set, much more liquid."

What do you eat a Spanish tortilla with? ›

Breakfast: how do we eat tortilla de patata for breakfast in Spain? Spanish omelette makes a great breakfast alone (hot or cold) with a piece of baguette, or even in a sandwich (your choice of bread). Add a coffee and a glass of orange juice and you've got your own complete, balanced, breakfast - Spanish style.

Mexicans fondly refer to this as 'la copia' (literally: the copy). If you ask around, you'll be given many reasons for this. But a popular explanation is that the second tortilla can be used to make another taco with any fillings that spill out the side.

Corn tortillas are seen as more authentic to Mexican dishes, corn has been a staple ingredient in Mexican cooking for thousands of years. Wheat, on the other hand, has only been around since the Spanish brought the crop with them when they arrived in the Americas.

Of course, when they are homemade, there is a wider diversity in the diameter and, above all, in the irregularity of the circle. However, on the market different sizes can be found. Mexican tortillas are made with wheat or corn flour.

Tortillas are a thin flatbread usually made from either corn or wheat flour.

The first tortillas discovered, which date back to approximately 10,000 BC, were made of native maize with dried corn kernels. The Aztecs used a lot of maize, both eaten straight from the cob and in recipes. They ground the maize, and used the cornmeal to make a dough called masa.

History. The first reference to the tortilla in Spanish is found in a Navarrese document, as an anonymous "Mousehole's memorial" addressed to the Navarra region's court in 1817. It explains the sparse conditions of Navarre's farmers in contrast with those in Pamplona (the capital) and la Ribera (in southern Navarre).

Nomenclature. The word tortilla, which is the diminutive form of torta, literally means 'small cake'. In European Spanish and in some variants of Latin American Spanish, it means omelette. A potato omelette is a tortilla de patatas or papas.