I became a vegetarian when I was relatively young, and when a kid becomes vegetarian the whole family has to change. My grandmother responded by cooking the same thing for me, and me alone, every time we visited her. She called it a ‘frittata’; I called it repulsive. It was a barely-cooked, flavourless yet somehow bitter, slab of lifeless vegetable matter suspended in cooked egg. The rest of the family would have roast chicken or beef, roast vegetables, spaghetti and CWA-style bolognaise, and I would have the frittata.
Complaining my grandmother’s frittata makes me feel like Elina on ANTM sulking about how she hates her mother. I don’t have a stellar relationship with my grandmother, and I think both she and I wish it could be otherwise. Still, my grandmother’s frittata is why I have a healthy suspicion of all frittatas, baked omelettes and tortillas.
I feel no ambivalence, however, when it comes to Jamie Oliver. ‘Jamie’s Ministry of Food’ has just begun airing here, and just watching the promos has reinvigorated my unabashed hatorade. Then, as I was flicking through this month’s Delicious, I happened upon a recipe that stopped me in my tracks. There were potatoes, and eggs, and grilled capsicum, and a bit of parsley, and I love all those things. Then I realised it was a tortilla. A tortilla recipe from Jamie Oliver.
Still, this month’s issue was a bit thin with the vegetarian recipes, so I put my prejudice aside. And, you know what? It was great. Especially with a lazily made, balsamic sweet green salad and Law & Order SVU. Just don’t tell Jamie. Or my grandmother.
To be honest I think most of the credit, though, goes to this:
It’s called a Nicola, and I found it in one of the organic stalls at the Vic Markets, and it is a handsome beast. Tasty, too, all creamy and yellow and loved by cats. If you come across a similar spud I urge you to try it.
Potato and Capsicum Tortilla
Adapted from the November Delicious. Serves 4.
- 250-300g attractive potatoes
- A capsicum
- 6 eggs
- A red onion, sliced
- Fat handful of flat parsley, roughly chopped
- Handful fat Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to something incendiary, around 240 degrees C. Cut your potatoes in half lengthwise, then into 1cm wide slices. Bring a large pan of generously salted water to boil, then cook potatoes at a bracing simmer until they’re tender. Drain in a colander and set aside.
While the potatoes do their time in the pot, slice the cheeks off the capsicum and put them under a hot grill. Forget about them for a while, around 10-15 minutes, until the skin is thoroughly blackened and the house smells like goodness. When the capsicum cheeks are done use tongs to put them into a plastic bag, like a zip-loc bag, and leave to steam themselves for a few minutes. Run cold water over the bag to cool the capsicum a little, then peel the skin off each piece. Cut into thin strips.
Beat the eggs together in a large bowl, then stir in parsley, olives and capsicum strips. Season with a little salt and pepper. In an ovenproof 20cm frypan cook the onion over medium heat in a slug of olive oil until soft. Add the cooked potato and fry for a few more minutes, until the potato pieces are slightly golden and crumbly. Thoroughly scrape the potato and onion from the pan into the egg bowl. Quickly wipe out the frypan, then return it to the heat with another slug of oil. Stir together the potatoes and onions with the egg mixture, then tip it into the hot frypan. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, for around 3 minutes or until it’s begun to set around the edges. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the centre is just set.
Remove from the oven and cool on the stove for about 5 minutes, then turn onto a plate. Serve in wedges and try to forget where it’s come from.
