Omelette with Potato Chips (Spanish Tortilla Española)

Tortilla española is everything we love about Spanish cooking - lusty, elemental, assuredly simple. Traditionally this Iberian omelet gets its heft from thin-sliced potatoes, but chef Ferran Adrià proposes an audacious update. Eschewing the dirty work of peeling, slicing, and frying the potato, Adrià substitutes a generous handful of store-bought thick-cut potato chips, which soften to just the right tenderness thanks to a soak in the beaten egg before the omelet is cooked. Innovative as this approach may be, the result is absolutely canonical.

4 oz (about 2¼ cups) potato chips, like Cape Cod brand, crushed, thick-cut
2 oz serrano ham or prosciutto, thinly sliced
¼ cup canned piquillo peppers or pimentos, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
8 eggs, lightly beaten
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly ground
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat broiler to high.

Combine the potato chips, ham, peppers, thyme, eggs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and let sit to allow the chips to soften in the eggs, about 5 minutes.

In a 10" nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat the oil; add the egg mixture and cook, without stirring, until bottom begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to the broiler, and broil until set and golden on top, about 3 minutes.

Cut into wedges to serve.

Makes 6-8 servings.