Today we're heading to sunny Spain, where every dish is a celebration of flavor and tradition. We'll make the iconic tortilla, aromatic chilindrón, and an almond cake from Galicia.
🥔 Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelet)
A dense, hearty omelet with tender potatoes and caramelized onion, served both hot and cold. Golden crust on the outside, soft creamy texture inside.
Ingredients:
• Potatoes — 600 g
• Yellow onions — 2 medium
• Eggs — 6
• Olive oil — 200 ml
• Salt — to taste
Preparation:
Step 1. Peel the potatoes and slice them thin, 3-4 mm thick (like chips). Cut the onion into half-moons 5 mm thick. Salt the potatoes.
Step 2. Heat the olive oil in a 24-26 cm diameter pan over medium heat to 160-170°C. Submerge the potatoes and onion in the oil, reduce heat to minimum. Braise 20-25 minutes, stirring gently with a wooden spatula periodically. When ready: potatoes should be soft (easily pierced with a fork) but not fried and not falling apart. Color — pale golden.
Step 3. Drain the potatoes and onion in a colander over a bowl so maximum oil drips off (3-5 minutes). Don't throw out the oil — you'll need it.
Step 4. Whisk the eggs with a whisk in a large bowl until uniform (30 seconds). Add the warm (not hot!) potatoes and onion, gently mix with a silicone spatula. Let stand 5 minutes so the eggs soak into the potatoes.
Step 5. Return 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan, heat over medium heat. Pour in the egg-potato mixture, distribute evenly with the spatula. Cook 4-5 minutes, periodically pulling the edges toward the center with the spatula so liquid egg flows down. When ready: the bottom has set and turned golden, the top is still moist but no longer liquid.
Step 6. Cover the pan with a flat plate of larger diameter, flip the tortilla onto the plate with one quick motion. Return the pan to the heat, carefully slide the tortilla back in raw side down. Cook another 3-4 minutes. When ready: with light finger pressure in the center the tortilla springs back, no liquid egg leaks out.
Step 7. Transfer the tortilla to a serving dish, let cool 10 minutes. Cut into triangular slices like a pie. Serve warm or at room temperature with tomato sauce or aioli.
💡 Fact: In Spain they eat tortilla for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and arguments about whether to add onion have divided the country into two irreconcilable camps for over a century!
🍗 Chicken Chilindrón (Pollo al Chilindrón)
An aromatic chicken stew in thick tomato-pepper sauce with jamón ham, from Aragon. Rich red sauce with smoky notes, tender meat that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients:
• Chicken (thighs and drumsticks) — 1 kg
• Sweet red peppers — 3
• Ripe tomatoes — 500 g
• Jamón serrano or prosciutto — 100 g
• Yellow onion — 1 large
• Garlic — 4 cloves
• Dry white wine — 150 ml
• Smoked paprika (pimentón) — 1 tsp
• Bay leaves — 2
• Olive oil — 3 tbsp
• Salt, black pepper — to taste
Preparation:
Step 1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towel, cut thighs in half if they're large. Salt and pepper generously on all sides. Cut the jamón into thin strips 1 cm wide.
Step 2. Heat the olive oil in a wide deep skillet or Dutch oven over high heat. Sear the chicken in batches skin side down 4-5 minutes until deep golden crust forms. Flip, sear another 3 minutes. When ready: skin is browned and crispy, meat has set on the outside. Transfer to a plate.
Step 3. Into the same fat (drain excess, leave 2 tbsp) add the onion diced 1 cm and jamón strips. Sauté 5-6 minutes over medium heat, stirring. When ready: onion has turned translucent, jamón has released its aroma and crisps slightly at the edges.
Step 4. Add the garlic sliced thin, cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add the paprika, stir 10 seconds (don't let it burn!). Pour in the wine, increase temperature, scrape the bottom with a wooden spatula, reduce 2-3 minutes. When ready: wine volume decreased by half, alcohol smell is gone.
Step 5. Cut the peppers into long strips 1.5 cm wide (remove seeds). Blanch the tomatoes, remove skins, cut into large cubes 2-3 cm. Add peppers and tomatoes to the skillet, add bay leaves. Braise over medium heat 15 minutes, stirring periodically. When ready: peppers have softened, tomatoes have broken down into sauce.
Step 6. Return the chicken to the skillet along with any juices that accumulated. Reduce heat to minimum, cover. Braise 35-40 minutes, turning the chicken every 12-15 minutes. When ready: meat easily separates from the bone with a fork, sauce has thickened and coats the chicken in a viscous layer.
Step 7. Remove lid, increase heat to medium, cook another 5 minutes to thicken the sauce further. Taste, adjust salt. Let stand covered 10 minutes. Serve with white rice or fried potatoes, sprinkled with fresh parsley.
💡 Fact: Chilindrón isn't just a dish name, it's a special method of cooking with peppers and tomatoes that they use in Aragon for lamb and rabbit too, and the word comes from a card game with the same name!
🍰 Tarta de Santiago (Saint James Almond Cake)
A moist, dense flourless almond cake with lemon and cinnamon aroma, decorated with the cross of Saint James in powdered sugar. Crispy caramelized crust outside, tender marzipan texture inside.
Ingredients:
• Ground almonds (almond flour) — 250 g
• Sugar — 200 g
• Eggs — 4
• Lemon zest — from 1 lemon
• Ground cinnamon — 1 tsp
• Butter — 20 g (for the pan)
• Powdered sugar — for decoration
Preparation:
Step 1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a round 22-24 cm diameter pan with softened butter, line the bottom with parchment paper. Zest the lemon with a fine grater, avoiding the bitter white part.
Step 2. Separate yolks from whites into two large bowls. To the yolks add 150 g sugar, beat with a mixer on high speed 4-5 minutes. When ready: mixture has paled, doubled in volume, when you lift the beaters a slowly dissolving ribbon forms.
Step 3. Add to the yolks the almond flour, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Mix with a silicone spatula in upward folding motions until uniform (1-2 minutes). Consistency: thick paste resembling marzipan.
Step 4. Beat the whites with a mixer on medium speed to soft peaks (2 minutes). Add the remaining 50 g sugar, continue beating on high speed another 2-3 minutes. When ready: whites are glossy, hold firm sharp peaks, don't fall when you invert the bowl.
Step 5. Add a third of the beaten whites to the almond mixture, stir vigorously with the spatula to loosen the batter (30 seconds). Then add the remaining whites in two additions, gently folding with upward and circular motions, preserving airiness. When ready: batter is uniform, no white streaks, light and fluffy.
Step 6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the surface with the spatula. Tap the pan on the counter 2-3 times to release large air bubbles. Place in the oven on the middle rack.
Step 7. Bake 35-40 minutes. When ready: top is deep golden brown, when you pierce the center with a wooden skewer it comes out with moist crumbs (not wet, but not dry), cake pulls slightly away from the pan sides.
Step 8. Cool the cake in the pan 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack, cool completely (1 hour). Cut a stencil of the cross of Saint James from paper (or use a ready-made one), place on the cake, dust generously with powdered sugar through a sieve. Carefully remove the stencil.
💡 Fact: This cake has been baked in Galicia since the 16th century for pilgrims walking the Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela, and the cross on the surface is the official symbol of the city, protected by law since 2006!