In Spain, the tortilla de patatas is a omelet-like dish, traditionally made by frying egg mixed with potatoes and onions on both sides in a pan. On my recent visit to Málaga (in April 2010), my host attempted to show me how to make tortillas, only to have the whole mixture fall apart in the pan. Instead of one big torte, we ended up with something resembling scrambled eggs.

In any case, I haven’t tried to repeat the dish the traditional way since. It takes time to stand over a hot stove and wait for the eggs to cook all the way through, and to keep the eggs from sticking you end up using copious amounts of oil.

So, I opted for making a less oily version of the traditional dish. This recipe was inspired by something over at Zoom Yummy, but highly modified to fit the ingredients I’d picked up at the local Farmer’s Market. You might be tempted to call this a crustless quiche.  The quiche has many of the same basic ingredients as a tortilla. But because of the inclusion of potato and onion, and lots of egg, I opted for calling it a tortilla.

I saw these blue potatoes a few weeks ago at the Tuesday Farmer’s Market, a smaller weeknight version of the local Bloomington market. The next week, I convinced myself to shell out the $6 for a small box of these guys.  Little did I know, they ended up tasting identical to regular potatoes. But they looked beautiful when sliced into rings for my baked tortilla.

The potatoes look purple, don’t they? And they have these beautiful patterns inside the rings. Too bad I have to cover them up with eggs for the recipe.

Baked Spanish Tortilla with Blue Potato and Yellow Squash

Ingredients

• 8 small blue potatoes
• 1 large yellow squash
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/2 cup Spinach leaves
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil to grease the pan

Method

1. Spray baking dish with Pam, or lightly coat with oil of your choice.
2. Thinly slice onions, potatoes, and yellow squash, and layer them with Spinach leaves in baking dish  I used a Pyrex pie pan.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over veggies in the pan.
3. Beat eggs together with yogurt. If mixture is too thick to pour, add some milk or water to thin it out.
4. Add grated Swiss cheese to egg mixture. Pour over vegetables, taking care that there is egg between each layer.
5. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes, or until eggs are fully set.