Spanish Tortilla

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

120g chorizo, chopped into small dice (or you can by the ready diced chorizo from supermarkets)

1 garlic clove, chopped

100ml white wine

400g small or baby potatoes, sliced very thinly (no need to peel)

125ml olive oil

6 large very fresh free range eggs

2-3 sprigs of thyme

Salt and pepper to season

1. Fry the onions with 2 tbsp’s of olive oil on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly. You want them to caramelise and take on lots of colour but stirring will stop them from catching and burning.
2. Remove from the pan and add the chorizo (resist the urge to add more oil, as the chorizo heats, it will release some of its own oil). Fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and white wine to the chorizo, and allow to bubble until reduced to a syrupy consistency. This will take 2-3 minutes.
4. Return the onions to the pan and continue frying for a further 5 minutes, until the onions are so soft you can almost mash them to a paste . Add the thyme leaves, season and leave to cool*.
5. Clean the pan to cook the potatoes. Heat the oil very gently in the frying pan over a medium heat and add the potatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring gently every now and again until the potatoes are tender. You don’t want the oil to reach boiling point as the potatoes will begin to deep fry and brown. Just keep it on a gentle heat at all times.
6. When the potatoes are ready, lift out of the oil with a slotted spoon on to a plate lined with kitchen paper. You want to drain off as much of the oil as possible.**
7. Whisk the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled*** onion, chorizo and potatoes and mix well. At this stage, the mixture will really benefit from standing for a couple of hours in the fridge to allow the flavours to develop.
8. Place an oiled tortilla pan**** onto a medium heat. When hot, ladle a spoonful of mixture into the pan, making sure the level of mixture is equal to the top of the pan. Fry for 2 minutes on one side, using a palate knife to ensure the edges are not sticking.
9. Now flip the tortilla, raw side down, onto a medium sized plate and slide back into the pan as quickly as you can, so that the side that has been cooking is now facing up. This will feel scary, but the tortilla will hold its shape, and will slide back in very easily. Be brave! Cook for a further 2 minutes and serve immediately.

The all important *stars*

*Remove the onion and chorizo to a bowl and set aside away from the cooker to speed up cooling.

**When working with hot oil, it is very important to be extremely careful. When the potatoes are cooked, leave the oil in the pan somewhere very safe until it cools. When it is completely cool, transfer to an old plastic bottle or container. Don’t be tempted to throw it down the sink- it will create a blockage. You can reuse this oil for a similar purpose- if doing this strain the oil before storing. Otherwise, you can throw it away. If you are going to throw it away, make sure the seal is perfectly tight and wrap a few layers of cling film around it to make sure it is totally contained. If you don’t do this, you or somebody else, will have a mega mess on their hands!

***Very important to let everything cool before adding it to the whisked eggs- if you add them hot, the eggs will start to cook before you have put them anywhere near a tortilla pan!

**** Place a few drops of oil into the tortilla pan and use some kitchen paper to spread all around so that there is a very fine coat of oil on the pan.