French Fridays with Dorie: Basque Potato Tortilla

I accompanied French Fridays with Dorie this week for a spontaneous excursion to the Basque region of France, for a taste of the popular Basque Potato Tortilla. This is also one of the most common tapas throughout Spain, and is simply an egg omelet with fried potatoes. Some versions include onions, and Dorie provides several bonne idees, or good ideas, to spruce it up with diced ham, minced fresh herbs, spinach, and/or mushrooms.

I prepared the basic version, which is scantily clad in a few crushed cloves of garlic, a fragrant sprig of rosemary, and a pinch of piment d' Espelette (Basque red chile pepper), but I regret to say it still needed a few more layers.  Flavorful pieces of Spanish chorizo come to mind.  I used Yukon Gold potatoes, as recommended, but I sliced rather than cubed them.

Preparation involves slowly cooking the potatoes and onions in shimmering olive oil until they are golden and soft, but not browned. The potatoes and onions are taken out of the pan, and the pan is wiped clean (very important to prevent stickage), before another quick pour of olive oil goes in the pan to heat. When the oil is hot, the potatoes, onions and whisked eggs go in and are momentarily left undisturbed. The tortilla is then covered and cooked slowly, as it soaks up and gently molds the egg and potatoes into one. Every now and then, a silicone spatula slips in for a run around the inside edges of the pan and underneath the tortilla. Once the top is almost set, the pan in placed under the broiler to finish it off. The tortilla is easily lifted out of the pan and transferred to a serving platter, where it is allowed to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

The tortilla can be served at room temperature or cold. Apparently, when hot, it crumbles badly having not fully set, and the flavors are muted. I patiently waited as directed and served ours at room temperature, but we all thought it would taste better warm. I reheated a slice the next day for lunch and confirmed that suspicion.

We enjoyed this for dinner, with a citrusy, nutty, Portuguese-inspired salad, but the tortilla is often served as tapas, cut up into bite-sized cubes and each piece pierced with a toothpick.

You can find David Leite's Orange Salad with Pine Nuts in The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast, one of my prized cookbook finds in the past year.  David's Pine Nut and Orange Cookies are also amazing!

If you like Basque and Spanish tapas, you may also be marginally entertained by two culinary-themed picnics we hosted last summer during our Coronado Summer Concerts in the Park season: Basque Country and Spanish Tapas.