The Story of the Tortilla Espanola

Don't worry, this won't be a history lesson on the spanish omelet. Instead, this will be a narcissistic documentation of my relationship with this dish.

Flashback to six years ago. It's freshman year and I'm at Marist College, studying to be a spanish teacher. I do not recall the assignment for Spanish class, but I know that my friend and I were attempting something dangerous: cooking in the upperclassmen dormitory kitchen. At this point in my life, I do not cook. In fact, I do not like to cook. But when my professor tells us how difficult it is to create a tortilla espanola, we take it as a personal challenge to succeed.

We fail.

The recipe advised us to flip the omelet once cooked on one side. The recipe made it appear so simple--anyone can do it! We could not. We wound up with thick slices of potatoes and chunks of onions poking out of a both dry and runny egg composite. Although the tortilla espanola defeated us, we still presented our experience to the class, and pulled an A.

Years later, for a tapas party with my girlfriends, I had decided to revisit the tortilla that continued to haunt me. At this point in my life, I do cook. In fact, I sort of like it. I knew that I was not going to allow history to repeat itself--not in my kitchen!--and so I avoided the flipping step completely. Instead, once the omelet was cooked on one side, I placed a lid on the pan and allowed the eggs to steam.

I succeed.

Back to the present. Tonight. I am hungry, I had a terrible day at work, and I do NOT want to cook. Not one bit. But I definitely do not want to order in food. And I'm not interested in leftovers. So I rummage through the refrigerator and see eggs. I like eggs. And I notice the potatoes that are going to rot very soon. And there's always an onion or two in the crisper.

An epiphone.

Dice the potatoes and onions fairly small and saute gently in a non-stick pan with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Whisk together eggs.

Once the vegetables are tender, add frozen spinach and stir it around until it gets warm (this is not a typical ingredient in this dish, but hey--I am a dietitian). Pour the eggs into the pan, while gently moving the mixture with a fork to allow the eggs to soak in and hold everything together.

When you see the omelet browning on the sides, cover the pan (you could also use aluminum foil if you don't have a lid that fits). The dish is finished once the eggs solidify.

Well, there's my story. Now go make this dish!