Tortilla de Patatas (in a jiffy)

Tortilla de Patatas (in a jiffy)

My craving for a Tortilla de Patatas started about five days ago when I was going through the mouth watering pics from Deb’s Smitten Kitchen Tortilla recipe. It had potatoes, it had eggs, what can be a more heavenly combination? Of course once I went through the recipe and the process my enthusiasm for actually making it went down a few notch. Firstly because I am down with a bad cold, my two year old refuses to acknowledge anyone’s existence when I am around, work and traffic are both a bit crazy leaving me with not much energy to get down to something as demanding as making the tortilla from scratch. Of course the craving kept on like a nagging itch. This weekend while thinking of making some cheese omelet for my hubby I saw a packet of frozen French fries in the fridge. Hmmm. . . French fries. . . i.e. potatoes. . . . mix in some egg. . some short cut fast food Tortilla? Of course the purists will shudder in horror and the texture is not as lovely as the real one but you know when you are rushing for something in the morning which will satisfy your soul and your tummy this one works out quite well. I even managed to get a accusatory look from hubby followed by the question “ How come you never made this before?”. My conclusion. . . . . mission successful J

Tortilla de Patatas (in a jiffy)
Serves 2

Shallots (small) – 2 finely sliced
Beef Salami – 2 slices finely diced (this is what I had in my fridge, feel free to omit or use any other fatty cured meat)
Fresh Chives (finely diced)– 1 teaspoon (Optional - I like a bit of green)
Egg – 2

Frozen French fries – ½ to 2/3 cups
Oil – 2 tbs (or as per your liking and the skillet that you are using)
Salt and Pepper to taste (I like to be a bit generous with the pepper)

1. Beat the eggs with salt, pepper and the chives till the yolk and whites are well combined. I used a plain fork but go ahead and use a whisk but you do not have to whisk hard.
2. Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat and fry to shallots until soft.
3. Add the salami and fry till the salami and the onion browns a tiny bit.
4. Add the frozen French fries and continue frying. Once the fries soften a bit, break the bigger fries into small pieces and keep frying for about 3 minutes. I sprinkled a bit of salt half way to season the potatoes. You can skip it if you like.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Make sure that the egg covers the whole pan right to edge. Gently nudge the sides to get the eggs to flow into the sides and settle. Let the eggs cook for 1-2 minute or so.
6. Cover the fry pan with a plate and invert the Tortilla on to the plate. Pour a bit of oil on the pan if the pan is too dry then gently slide the inverted Tortilla back to the skillet. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Serve piping hot with bread or on its own with a green salad.

Note: I used a fairly small skillet to get the desired thickness. Mine was about a 6” diameter skillet.