The Birth of the Tortata

OK, I'm laying claims to the term I'm creating today: the Tortata. What is that, you say? (Or if you're too lazy to look at the posted recipe below.) It's my name for a cross between a Spanish tortilla and an Italian frittata.

I love brunch because just the idea of it conjurs up images of a slow meal on a beautiful Sunday with friends. One of my standby orders is always eggs (or omelettes). When I was traveling in Barcelona with my sister and brother-in-law, we loved going into the Spanish breakfast joints and ordering a tortilla. Just the combination of eggs and potatoes was a winner with me. (It was also interesting to me how a tortilla in Mexico means that thin pancake for wraps while in Spain it's an egg dish.)

But of course, when I looked at tortilla recipes, I just couldn't bear the idea of all the oil used to fry up the potatoes and creating the egg mixture. Also, the traditional tortilla involves the flipping of the egg creation in the pan over and over until you have this rounded nice golden brown pancake that you slice up and serve at room temperature for breakfast. I didn't like the idea of flipping over and over, but I liked the technique often used to make frittatas where you place your pan under the broiler to cook the top (or bottom, depending on how you serve it). The frittatas are generally slipped onto a platter from the pan to serve, but I like the clean look of the bottom when flipped over and revealing the smooth surface created against the pan. You can be creative and make patterns with your ingredients so you can have an interesting artwork for brunch!

So here's my tortata. If you like it, order it at your favorite restaurant next time for brunch. When they look at you with that confused, what-the-heck-is-a-tortata look, send them to my blog! :)

Photo above is my tortata as it comes from under the broiler with the sides just slightly golden brown. Hmmmm.