I first tried Tumbet at the wonderful Es Moli resturant in beautiful Santanyi in the south of Mallorca. If you're ever on the island, I can highly recommend both the town and the restaurant.
Tumbet (which includes very similar ingredients to ratatouille) is a delicious combination of perfectly cooked Mediterranean vegetables, layered with a fresh tomato sauce and herbs.
At Es Moli, the Tumbet is served as a beautiful round stack of room temperature vegetables. Unfortunately my stacking skills are not as good as those at the restaurant, so my version is cooked in an ovenproof dish and served hot.
If you're feeling tempted to try it, then I do need to confess that this dish is a bit of a labour of love, so if you're short on time, then you might need to cook something else!
Serves 3-4
Extra virgin olive oil
800g fresh tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons of dried Marjoram (Oregano or Thyme)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
Pinch of sugar
1 aubergine
1 large courgette
1-2 large green peppers
1 large red pepper
300g large charlotte potatoes
Fresh basil
Seasoning
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
To make the fresh tomato sauce
- Cut a cross in the skin of the bottom (or near the bottom) of each tomato.
- Place the tomatoes in a layer at the bottom of a heatproof container and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes. (If the tomatoes float, then place a bowl or plate on to p in order to submerge them).
- Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and peel off the skin.
- Dice the tomatoes and place in a bowl.
- Peel and finely grate (or crush) the garlic cloves
- Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of a medium sized pan, over a low to medium heat. Once the oil is hot, throw in the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Add the tomatoes, marjoram, tomato paste, pinch of sugar and seasoning. Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for 20-25 minutes, until it has reduced.
- Set aside.
To make the vegetables
Note, if you want to prevent the aubergine and potatoes from browning, you may wish to cut them just before sauteing in olive oil.
- Deseed the peppers and cut into large chunks (see images).
- Top and tail the courgette and the aubergine and cut into approx 1cm rounds. (Alternatively you can brush the aubergine slices with oil and cook in the oven, as they tend to soak up a lot of oil in the pan).
- Cut the charlotte potatoes into 1cm rounds or slices.
- Heat some olive oil in a large sauté or frying pan, over a medium heat.
- Sauté the vegetables in batches until they are just tender (adding more oil as needed). Once each batch is cooked, lay on a plate covered in kitchen roll to mop up some of the excess oil.
To assemble the Tumbet
- Spread a layer of sauce over the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
- Top with one of the vegetables (leaving the potatoes) until last. Season, top with more tomato sauce and a handful of fresh basil leaves.
- Repeat until the last layer of potatoes (see image).
- Place in the hot oven and cook for 25 minutes.
