Spanish omelets or tortillas are one of the most common dishes in Spain and though most are made with potatoes the French influenced Catalan version uses chick peas instead. You can enjoy a tortilla for a 
snack, lunch or light dinner combined with a salad. This version of the tortilla comes to us from Catalonia and is just one of many specialties of the area. For instance those of you who love chocolate would be interested to know that Catalonia consumes twice the chocolate as the entire rest of Spain combined – and those of you who are joining the Bicycling Catalonia’s Costa Brava Plus! Barcelona tour should be sure to visit Petritxol Street in Barcelona which is famous for its chocolates and chocolate drinks and is within walking distance of the Rambla. Salads are also an important part of meals in Catalonia including side dishes featuring spinach and pine nuts, or others with endive, green beans, eggs, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and still others with greens, a special dried meat or salt cod. Seafood is also a common feature in meals and there are countless versions of soquet, a delicious Catalan version of seafood soup to be sampled.
But first let’s focus on the tortilla!
Serves 1 or 2
Ingredients
4 large free range eggs
6 tablespoons of cooked chickpeas, well drained
2 tablespoons of diced chorizo or butifarra (a Catalonian version) sausage
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Preparation
Warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a one person omelet pan.
Fry the sausage for a few minutes until the edges brown.
Add the chickpeas and warm them through.
In a separate bowl beat the eggs lightly with salt and pepper.
Remove the chickpeas and sausage, wipe the pan and heat the remaining tablespoon of oil.
Add the eggs and gently stir in the chickpeas and sausage.
Cook until the mixture forms of a thick pancake
Unless you are skilled enough to flip the tortilla in the air we recommend turning it by reversing the whole pan on to a plate and then slipping the tortilla back into the hot pan (add a little more oil if required) and allow the other side to set.
You can adapt this recipe by adding different meats or make it vegetarian by leaving the meat out.