If you’re like me, the word “tortilla” immediately conjures up images of chips and salsa or maybe a giant burrito wrapped in a soft wheat tortilla. Of course, if it were that kind of tortilla, it wouldn’t jive with my Paleo diet. But this tortilla is entirely different: it’s a Spanish tortilla.
A Spanish tortilla is something between an omelet and a quiche. It has the fluffed up eggs like a quiche, but there’s no crust. And just like both an omelet and a quiche, you can put tons of different veggies and herbs into it to make it take on tons of different flavor profiles.
I make Spanish tortillas anytime I have guests overnight. It’s a great breakfast for a group and I like garnishing it with a side of fresh mixed berries. I like serving it for guests because I can keep Paleo and if my guests aren’t quite as excited about that, I can make them toast or a muffin to eat long with it.
Although just about anything can go in a tortilla, I stick to whatever veggies and herbs the local farmers market has a lot of that week. Since it’s the beginning of fall, zucchini are in abundance right now in my area. I love zucchini, with its mild earthy flavor, because it is really versatile: as a warm side dish at dinner, raw in salads at lunch, or cooked like it is here with eggs.
Zucchini, otherwise known as summer squash or courgettes, come in a lot of sizes and shapes, but the most common in the United States are the long slender variety that come in green or yellow. I like using a mix of both for the visual, but using all yellow or all green is good too!
One of the reasons I like using zucchini is that they have such a mild flavor that they can adapt to nearly any dish. As a bonus, they have one of the lowest calorie counts of any vegetable out there (and that’s really saying something since most veggies are pretty low already!) and make sure you keep the skin on because it becomes nice and soft when cooked and it’s packed with fiber.
So in the late summer and early fall I love bulking up my dishes with zucchini and of course another favorite – onions. Did you know that onions are actually considered to be an herb? They layers of the onion are actually leaves. And boy do they taste yummy. Additionally, they boost the vitamin C and antioxidant levels that the zucchini brings to the party.
Could you make scrambled eggs with sautéed onions and zucchini? Sure. But let me tell you how much more impressive (and not that much more difficult) it is to make this Spanish tortilla. It’s hearty and satisfying and makes you look like a kitchen genius. What could be better?
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound zucchinis, sliced into rounds about 1/8 inch thick
- 1 large garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 6 large eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 6 tbsp pico de gallo (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 9 inch pan.
- Add the onion and zucchini slices and cook for 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds and set aside.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs with salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir the zucchini mixture into the eggs.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan and return to the heat. Pour the zucchini eggs mixture into the frying pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake eggs until set in center and no longer wet on top, about 20 minutes. Remove the tortilla from the oven, and transfer from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the tortilla into wedges and top with the pico de gallo if using and serve.
What temperature in oven?
I baked mine at 350 degrees. Added red bell peppers and potatoes to the zucchini and onions. Chopped up some cherry tomatoes with green (New Mexico) chili instead of the pico. Very yummy, thanks so much for the recipe.
Calls for 9″ pan; what type of pan did you use? Directions say “remove from pan after baking.” I’d be afraid the whole thing would fall apart. Did you remove the whole thing or slice from pan? Thx! (your variation sounds yummy.)
I made this for #MothersDay2020, and it was a hit! Thank you so much for this recipe. My boyfriend and I are on Day 28 of #Whole30AtHome, so I was looking for recipe that I could make for my mom for Mother’s Day that would be compliant for us but super special for her. Her parent’s are from Spain, and my Abuelo (who did most of the cooking when mom was a little girl) used to make Spanish tortillas often (sometimes even for dinner). So, I thought this would be the perfect star of our brunch! I made it is as directed, except I am testing out being low FODMAP, so I omitted the garlic and used Colavita garlic infused olive oil instead of regular olive oil, and used one small yellow onion instead of one medium red onion. I also added potato slices, and a little bit of fresh oregano.