The Tortilla Espanola is Easy
And Offers Some Great Options

The Tortilla Espanola is a great recipe to turn to when you want something special that’s relatively easy to prepare.

In its simplest form it contains eggs, potatoes, onions, oil and salt. Variations can include seafood, sausage, or vegetables.

This traditional Spanish food is one of my favorite potato dishes.

Tortilla Espanola Click image to enlarge.

This dish is great for serving to a lot of guests: it can be made inexpensively, and variations can satisfy even the pickiest eaters.

Vegetables, seafood, or sausage may be added.

The basic recipe for tortilla espanola is common to many cultures.
In Italy it’s known as Frittata con le patatine. I originally learned of it from a Mexican friend, who called it Tortilla de Papas, and taught me to eat it with chilis.

I adapted this recipe from the Tortilla de Papas recipe in my favorite South American cookbook: The Art of South American Cooking, by Felipe Rojas-Lombardi. The cookbook has lots of gluten free foods in it.

If you try the recipe, please leave a comment below.

Tool Tip:

If you want to avoid confusion over how to flip a pan with a handle (especially if you have short arms like I do), and you happen to have a non-stick paella pan that’s not too big, I would use that.

The handles are looped, so you don’t have to worry about the handle getting in the way when you flip the tortilla. I found a 12 Inch non-stick Paella Pan that would be perfect for the amount in this recipe. I don’t have one yet, but it’s on my wishlist!

Variations

If you’d like to add seafood for a Tortilla Espanola con Mariscos: cut the potatoes back to 2½ lbs. Add 1 lb cooked scallops, shrimp, or crabmeat, (or a mixture) just before pouring it into the skillet.

Here’s a great variation made with spinach and pine nuts: Sauté a lb of chopped spinach in a bit of oil or butter until wilted. Sprinkle with ½C pine nuts, and season with fresh ground pepper. Fold into the egg and potato mixture just before adding to the skillet.

Note: Something to be aware of with some pine nuts. My husband has no food allergies that we know if, but he had a reaction to the pine nuts we used. Apparently some Siberian and Asiatic pine nuts cause a reaction in a very small percentage of people.

Steve’s sense of taste was completely wacked out. For nearly 10 days everything tasted bitter, even things that should have tasted sweet. He was pretty miserable. It went away so we never found out if there could be any serious problems for anyone.

Check out this blog post about it by someone with a similar experience.

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