Recipe of the week: Tortilla con boletus
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When taking over the family business, Chef Juanjo López realised he had to stay loyal to the authenticity and intensity of traditional flavours. Among the worldwide known Spanish dishes is tortilla. Some like it with onion, some without. Some crave it runny, some like it set. Chef Juanjo López likes his without onion and on the runny side. And, although he respects the traditional recipe, he likes to add thinly sliced boletus on top. The result is a combination of strong flavours with a mouth explosion of potato and eggs married with the freshness of raw boletus.
Ingredients (for 4 people)
500g of waxy potatoes
5 large free-range eggs
500 ml of Spanish olive oil
1 boletus edulis mushroom
Salt
Black pepper
Drizzle of olive oil for presentation
Directions
Peel the potatoes and carefully cut them into thin slices.
Pour the olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat and, once hot, add the potatoes.
Turn the heat down to medium low and cook the potatoes through for about 25-30 minutes, flipping them with a fish slice once in a while so those below don’t burn and stick to the pan.
Once the potatoes look soft enough, gently press them against the sides of the pan and flip them once again.
Get them out of the frying pan and drain them on a colander to remove excess oil.
Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, add salt and pepper and whisk together with a fork.
Add the potatoes to the mixture, mix it all together and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.
Leave enough olive oil in the frying pan so the tortilla doesn’t stick to it (discarding the excess) and turn the heat to medium-high.
When it’s hot enough, add in the mixture and cook, running the fish slice along the side of the pan to achieve its round shape.
After 3 or 4 minutes, flip the tortilla by placing a flat plate on top of the frying pan and get it back in the pan so it cooks on the other side.
Run the fish slice along the sides of the pan once again to achieve a perfect round shape. Cook for about 2 more minutes for a runny tortilla or leave it for a longer time if you like it set.
Remove the tortilla from the pan and let it rest for a bit.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the raw boletus and place it on top of the tortilla, adding a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Some suggestions
The Spanish love their tortillas at all times. They enjoy eating it at home, at bars and restaurants. It is always a great time to have tortilla, either as a main course or as a mid-morning/mid- afternoon tapa. It pairs well with wine, beer or even with coffee (if you’re eating yours for breakfast). It is important to adjust the cooking time depending on how runny you like it and some like to eat it with mayonnaise or salsa brava (a smoky tomato-based salsa made with pimentón, Spanish paprika). To each his own, to each his tortilla.
Thank you to Chef Juanjo López of La Tasquita, Madrid, for the recipe.
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This sounds delicious thanks you for sharing the recipe and although I will probably struggle to do this justice I will be giving this a go myself. I will have to let you know how I get on!
Spanish food is so beautiful and I love cooking. I had actually never heard or tried this dish before but it does sound really good so I think I will have to give it a try along with some tapas. I think the thing I love most about Spanish cuisine is that it’s all focused around fresh ingredients and sharing as one big community family and friends dining together. Food should bring people together and be about experimenting so it’s great that this can be varied and adapted for different personal tastes. Now to get cooking i just hope I can do it justice!