A dish to take you back to Menorca: Tumbet

Villa Plus are celebrating the launch of their new 'Local Food' guides and Time2Gossip was tasked to recreate a traditional dish from Menorca. I immediatley thought of Tumbet, a traditional vegtable dish that nearly every restaurant in Menorca serves, combining layers of sliced potatoes, aubergines and peppers. This dish can be served as a main or alongside a lovely bit of fish or meat.

I would like to point out that I have never made this dish before but thought I would take on the challenge, especially as the ingredients are in season.

So we headed off to the local market in Twickenham 'Cousins' in search for our ingrediants for a meal for four.

Ingrediants:

• 400g Potatoes
• 400g Aubergines
• 500g Tomatoes
• 2 Garlic Gloves
• 200g Manchego Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to season

The Price: £5.30, £1.32 per person - An absolute bargain, I need to remember to shop at the local market more often for amazing prices.

Method:

Prep time: up to 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes 
Preheat oven: 180c/250f/Gas 4

1. Peel and chop the tomatoes and garlic and fry with a little oil in a frying pan and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste - Keep an eye out over the 30 minutes and stir.
2. While the sauce is doing its magic, heat some olive oil in another frying pan and thinly slice the potatoes and fry for 4-5 minutes (they should be golden brown). Use kitchen paper to get rid of excess oil.
3. Then de-seed the peppers and quarter. Fry for 10 minutes or until softened. Again, blot with kitchen paper.
4. Slice the aubergine lengthways into thick slices. Then fry in batches for 5 minutes. Once again, blot with kitchen paper.
5. Now it should of been about 30 minutes from when you started the sauce so its time to layer up. You can do this is a big casserole dish or if you want it to be a little fancy for the adults layer up on one plate which is over proof which we have done. Layer aubergines, potatoes, peppers then spoon over the tomato sauce and sprinkle over grated cheese.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and your dish should be bubbling and golden-brown.