Fridge Forage Friday :: Sweet Potato, Caramelised Onion, Goat's Cheese and Thyme Tortilla

Sweet potatoes, like butternut squash are one of my all time favourite staple ingredients. Along with a little fridge and store cupboard foraging, and some herbs from the garden I can soon manage to  rustle up an easy lunch or supper, like this hearty tortilla.  

Sweet Potato, Caramelised Onion, Goat's Cheese and Thyme Tortilla

Ingredients for one medium sized tortilla/omelette :

• A medium sized sweet potato
• Two small or one medium sized red onions
• Olive oil 
• Balsamic vinegar
• Two fresh or roasted garlic cloves 
• Four large eggs or equivalent
• One small goats cheese or any salty/sour cheese. Blue veined cheese would also work well.
• A sprig or two of fresh thyme 
• Chilli flake (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method: 

1. Scrub the sweet potato well and place on a baking try in the centre of a moderate oven. Cook for about thirty or forty minutes or so, depending on the size of the potato; until it's still tender but firm enough to slice. Sweet potatoes contain more water then regular ones so cook much more quickly.
2. Whilst the potato is cooking pop a couple cloves of garlic on the tray leaving the outer papery skin and drizzle with olive oil, these will roast until soft and sweet.
3. Meanwhile, pour a little olive oil into a frying/omelette pan and add the sliced onions. Allow to cook slowly until soft and sweetly caramelised. Season with a little sea salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
4. When the potato and garlic cloves are cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes. 
5. Squeeze the sweet paste from the cooked garlic cloves and pour in a few drops of balsamic vinegar and mix with the onions. Ensure that the onions cover the base of the pan evenly.
6. When the potatoes are cooled, carefully peel off the skin, slice and then pop on top of the onions. Season.
7. Slice or break up the cheese into small chunks.
8. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, season, add a sprinkle of chilli flakes and beat with a fork. Remove the leaves from the sprigs of thyme and add to the bowl.
9. Return the pan with the onions and potatoes to the heat adding a little more oil if necessary. When hot, pour the beaten eggs over the other ingredients. Allow the eggs to begin to set and then reduce the heat a little and place chunks of the cheese evenly on top to melt into the tortilla.
10. You may like to cover with a lid at this stage to ensure the top sets or if using an oven proof pan place in the oven or grill for a crunchy golden brown topping or you may prefer the cheese to be gooey and melting...it's up to you.
11. Leave to cool down a little and then cut into wedges and serve with salad.

This is s substantial omelette. The potato and onions are sweet and the balsamic vinegar helps to cut the sweetness. The goats or blue cheese give a welcome salty sourness. I served this with peppery wild rocket (arugula) leaves and a radish and red onion salad. The two finely sliced give a crisp freshness when seasoned and dressed with lemon juice and a little oil. I wouldn't use a honey or maple syrup based dressing as this dish has enough sweetness and benefits from the sharp balance of the lemon juice. 

cooks tip: Any time that you are using the oven for about an hour, pop in a little parcel of foil or baking parchment with a whole head of garlic. Once cooked the cloves become much more mellow than raw garlic and you can keep them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. They are amazing for all sorts of things, like to add to soups or stews, mashed parsnips or potatoes, with sandwich spreads or when warm from the oven to simply spread over crusty bread...yummy...

I'm joining Tracey today for a recipe swap...wan't to come too?