Recipe: Catalan Style Tortilla

By Mary Luz Mejia
www.maryluzmejia.com

If you’ve ever had a Spanish egg-based Tortilla with just eggs, potato, onion and garlic, then this variety from the region of Catalonia will surely please the palate when you need protein fast. This version uses Spanish chorizo and chickpeas, but you can also make this recipe with butifarra (black pudding spiced with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) and white kidney or lima beans instead of chickpeas.

This is my favourite version and I always make sure to use organic, Spanish chorizo (the Mexican and Portuguese kinds are not the same) from my preferred butcher.  These make mini tortillas that serve two, but you can double the recipe and use a larger skillet for one big tortilla. Since eggs are the star ingredient here, make sure you use farm-fresh, organic, free range eggs – sourcing them will make all the difference in flavour in the final product.
Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Spanish Olive oil
• 2 tbsp of diced fresh (not dried or cured) lean chorizo
• 4 tablespoons of cooked chickpeas- well drained and rinsed
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp of finely diced Spanish onion
• Sea salt (to taste)
• Pinch of chile flakes (especially if your chorizo is not spicy) – to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Warm the olive oil in a one-person non-stick omelet pan or skillet. Fry the onion and the sausage on medium heat for a few minutes until the onion is lightly golden and the fat runs from the chorizo. Add the chickpeas and stir for a few minutes.
2. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt, pepper and chile flakes. Add the contents of the skillet and mix to combine. Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and mist the pan with a spray of olive oil. Pour in the egg mixture, stir to blend the ingredients and wait for the eggs to set up in the pan. Heat should be at medium-low and the sides should pull away from the pan a bit when egg mixture has set (note it shouldn’t be super runny at this point). Turn this over onto a dinner plate so that contents are soft-side down.
3. Slide the egg tortilla – soft side down – back into the heat to allow to cook on the other side. This should take no more than a few minutes. Take your time and be gentle with this process. It shouldn’t take any more than 10 minutes to cook your golden brown tortilla. Enjoy with a crisp, green salad and a glass of good, Spanish red wine!

Nutritional Analysis:

Protein: 15g

Total Carb 14g or 5 per cent

Dietary Fibre 3g or 11 per cent

Sodium: 27 per cent (approx)

Total Fat: 18g or 28 per cent

Vitamin C: 5 per cent

Calcium: 3 per cent

Iron: 7 per cent