Tortilla Española Canadiense (Canadian-style Spanish Omelet)

I spent a total of about a year in Spain when I was in my teens, travelling with my parents. I loved all the food I had there.  This particular dish was one that was, to my delight, available pretty much everywhere. It is so easy to make. I don’t know how “official” the recipe is, hence the “Canadiense” designation, but it tastes pretty official to me 😉

The ingredients are fast and loose, depending on how big a pan you have, how many eggs and veggies you have and how many people you want to feed.

For 4 people, with maybe some leftovers (or not):

8-10 eggs, fork-beaten with salt and pepper

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

4 cups or so cold, cooked potato, chopped into 1″ pieces (I like to steam extra potatoes so I have the leftovers to make this – new potatoes can have the skin on, but older potatoes should be peeled before cooking for this recipe)

handful parsley, chopped

generous amount olive oil – start with 2 tbsp. and go from there

In frying pan with heatproof handle, heat the initial 2 tbsp. olive oil and fry the garlic and onion until soft and fragrant. Stir in the potatoes and parsley, fry for a minute or two. The pan might be looking a little dry, so add some more olive oil and let heat. Pour in the beaten eggs…there should be enough egg in the pan to almost cover the vegetables. Stir gently in the pan to combine and coat all vegetables with the egg. You can always beat up another egg or two and mix it in if there is not enough. Now leave it alone to cook over very low heat.

Turn on the broiler in your oven while the omelet is cooking. .

Cook over low heat until egg is mostly cooked – there will be a small amount of runny egg still on the top, but the omelet will be fairly firm underneath. When the omelet reaches this stage, and the broiler is heated, slide the pan underneath the element and brown the omelet, watching it carefully. This will only take a few minutes (depending on how hot your broiler is). Leave the handle of the pan away from the element!

When top of omelet is golden, remove from oven, and let cool. This can be served warm (room temperature) or chilled, never hot.

Delicious with green salad, and perhaps a bit of salsa on the side. Or ketchup (that is definitely NOT Spanish!) 🙂