The Humble Spud, Spanish Style

Do you know how many calories there are in a potato? Does it depend on the variety or are they all the same? Here are some surprising facts!

A potato has about 77 calories per 100 grams and a banana has 89 calories per 100 grams. Providing you don't lather potatoes in butter they are actually pretty OK to eat. Like bananas, potatoes contain over 400mg of potassium (including the potato skin) which our body needs to build protein, build muscle, control the electrical activity of the heart and more. So the humble spud is a pretty good vegetable to eat, even when you need to count calories. For more information go to this web site.
http://www.potatogoodness.com/nutrition/nutritional-facts/

History has it that it was the Spanish that introduced the potato to the rest of Europe! And in Spanish cooking the potato is definately the hero! 

My Spanish omelettes used to be made with a few eggs beaten and an onion fried, some mashed potatoes thrown in with a few tomatoes at the last minute. But after my visit to Spain and finding out how to cook them properly, that all changed! 

Because a Spanish Omelette is nothing like a French Omelette it is more like a Potato dish with an egg. To prove this to you, here is my recipe. Once you have tried it, decide for yourself! But if you feel inclined, leave me a comment. Because it is always nice to know what you are thinking!

Tortilla de Patata or Spanish Omelette

Ingredients for 4 people

6 Eggs 
1 white sweet onion

3 potatoes

1/2 Sweet potato

Salt and pepper

Few sprigs of Rosemary

3 tbls Olive oil

2 tbls Parsley, chopped

• I used a mandolin to slice the potatoes and onion. It was the second setting so not too thin. 
• You can slice the potatoes by hand but try to get them all the same thickness so they cook at the same rate. If they are a bit thicker, it doesn't matter, they just take longer to cook.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frypan with a lid. Add the onions, potatoes and rosemary. cook semi covered for around 30 minutes. This will depend on the thickness of the potatoes. If you can pierce them with the tip of a knife then they are cooked. 
• Keep the heat down pretty low so the onions do not burn. No need to stir them.

• Beat eggs, add salt and pepper.
• When the potatoes are cooked, strain the oil off them, retaining the oil to cook the omelette and remove the sprigs of rosemary. 
• Mix the potatoes and onions into the eggs, reheat the oil and put the whole lot into a pan adding the parsley.
• Keep the heat low and let the egg cook and solidify a little so you are able to invert with a plate. This takes around 10 -15 minutes. 
•  Once inverted, slide back into the pan and cook side two. 
• When this is cooked, slide onto a plate and leave to cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.