CHARD AND POTATO SPANISH TORTILLA WITH ROMESCO SAUCE

It's another week of cooking with other food bloggers using recipes from Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook. This week our host is Mireya of My Healthy Eating Habits. Mireya chose Roast Potatoes and Chicken with Romesco Sauce. Romesco sauce is a nut and red bell pepper sauce originating from Spain. This sauce can be used to accompany anything from vegetables, seafood, meats, or even spread on a slice of rustic bread.

I decided to make the sauce following the recipe that Mark Bittman wrote in his cookbook. You can find the original  recipe here. I changed it a little by using Marcona almonds. Marcona almonds come from Spain and they are sweeter, fatter, and rounder than the typical California variety. They are usually blanched and then roasted in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. If you have never had one go quickly and try them. They are referred to as the "Queen of Almonds" and they truly are. Marcona almonds will take your cheese and fruit platter to another level. It gave an extra depth to this sauce. I also added a bit of cayenne pepper to my sauce for a little zip.

Keeping in the Spanish theme and using most everything from my garden I decided to make a chard and potato tortilla. Most of us think of a tortilla as something round and flat and either corn or flour, but in Spain it is more of an omelet.

Sliced potatoes are first browned in olive oil, next step is to brown the onions and then leave the onions in the pan and top them with the sliced browned potatoes.

The potatoes are topped with the cooked chopped chard. The beaten eggs are poured over everything and you cook this on top of the stove until the edges have set. At this point you can flip the tortilla over to brown the other side or put it under the broiler to brown the top.

Serve this warm, at room temperature, or even cold, and with a side of Romesco Sauce.

For the other members creative takes on this recipe click here.

CHARD AND POTATO SPANISH TORTILLA

1 lb. potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil plus 1 TBSP. for chard

1 large Spanish onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 lb. chard, center ribs discarded

6 large eggs, beaten

Cook chard in one TBSP. olive oil until wilted. Remove from pan, chop and set aside.

Slice the potatoes into 1/4" wide disks. Pour the olive oil into a cast-iron skillet and heat it over medium high heat. Working in batches, fry the potatoes in one layer until lightly browned. Do not let them get crispy. When they are done, let the potatoes dry on a paper towel and salt them well. Keep frying until they are all cooked.

When the potatoes are done, pour out most of the oil and saute the onions. When they are just starting to crisp, turn off the heat. Arrange the onions so they are evenly covering the bottom of the pan.  Arrange the potatoes on the pan in a scalloped pattern. Sprinkle the chopped chard in a layer over the potatoes.

Turn the heat to medium, and pour the egg mixture over. Add a generous pinch of salt. Shake the pan to get the eggs to coat everything in the pan. Let this cook until you see the edges of the tortilla begin to set. Flip the tortilla over in the pan and continue cooking the other side. Or, place pan under broiler for about 5 minutes, or until the top browns.

Let it sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges and serve with Romesco Sauce.

ROMESCO SAUCE

1/2 cup blanched almonds (I used Marcona almonds)

1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 large or 2 medium ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped

1 garlic clove

1 packed cup fresh parsley

2 TBSP. sherry vinegar

dash or two of cayenne pepper

Combine the almonds, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, parsley, and vinegar in a food processor or blender. With machine running, slowly add the remaining 2 TBSP. oil; puree into a thick paste, adding more oil if necessary to keep the machine running and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Recipe slightly adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook.