Bowl of Potato Vegetable Casserole
(click to enlarge)

Potato Vegetable Casserole


Spain   -   Tumbet Mallorquin

Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  
7 side
***
1-1/3 hrs
Note-4
This casserole, from Mallorca, Spain, is great as a side dish or, with rice, a light vegetarian main dish. It's a bit of a hassle for two, but very good for larger groups.




1-1/2
ar
ar
ar
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1
14 oz
1
8
10
4
1
1
1
1/2
ar
ar
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#



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#
can
#
oz
oz
cl
T
T
T
t


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Eggplant (1)  
Olive Oil ExtV
Salt
Pepper, black
----
Potatoes (2)
Tomatoes diced
Green Bell Pepper
Red Bell Pepper
Zucchini, narrow
Garlic
Parsley
Olive Oil ExtV
Olive Oil (more)
Paprika (3)
Olive Oil (more)
Salt
-- Garnish
Parsley, chopped

In Mallorca the ingredients would all be fried, making the dish a bit oilier than we would like today. See Note-4 for preparation details.

Prep   -   (25 min)
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
  2. Cut EGGPLANT into 3/8 inch slices and arrange on an oiled baking sheet. Brush with Olive Oil on both sides and Sprinkle lightly with Salt and Pepper. Bake at 400°F until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Peel POTATOES and cut lengthwise in half if small, quarters if larger. Slice crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Put in a saucepan with water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer until cooked through. Drain well.
  4. Drain TOMATOES, reserving the juice. Chop fine and return to the juice.
  5. Blast PEPPERS black with your propane torch and rub the skins off under running water. Core and slice into strips about 1/2 inch wide and half the pepper height in length.
  6. Slice ZUCCHINI about 1/4 inch thick.
  7. Crush GARLIC and chop fine.
  8. Chop PARSLEY small.
  9. Chop some more PARSLEY for garnish.
Run   -   (55 min)
  1. Heat 1 T Olive Oil in a spacious sauté pan and add Zucchini, Peppers and just 1 teaspoon of the Garlic. Sprinkle with a little Salt and fry tumbling until all is coated with oil. You can then cover and steam the vegetables in their own juices over low flame, tumbling now and then, until Zucchini is just cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Heat 1 T Olive Oil in the sauté pan and stir in remaining Garlic. Fry stirring for a few seconds, then stir in Paprika, Tomatoes and Parsley. Cover and simmer, stirring now and then, until tomatoes are very soft.
  3. Tumble the Potatoes with a bit of Olive Oil and Salt to taste.
  4. Oil a 2 quart casserole or baking dish. Layer in the Potatoes. Next layer is the Zucchini mix and then the Eggplants. Finally, pour the Tomato mix over the top.
  5. Slip casserole into the oven and bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes (see Note-5).
  6. Serve hot garnished with Parsley.
NOTES:
  1. Eggplant:

      Use a small diameter eggplant such as Italian or Japanese.
  2. Potatoes:

      White Rose or similar waxy potatoes work well in this recipe. Avoid Klondike Gold type potatoes - they quickly turn to mush if cooked beyond the minimum. For details see our Potatoes page.
  3. Paprika:

      Please, real Spanish or Hungarian paprika, not that sawdust flavored stuff they sell in the supermarkets.
  4. Details:

      To keep oiliness down to a modern level, the eggplant is oven roasted rather than fried. The pattern recipe calls for salting the eggplant slices and draining them in a colander to "drain their bitter juices". Since I've never detected bitter juices in eggplants I don't bother. If, however, you decide to be "authentic" and fry the eggplants, the salting is useful - it cuts down the amount of oil the eggplants will absorb. The pattern recipe calls for microwaving the potatoes instead of frying them for the same reason, but having no kids demanding instant gratification, I don't need a microwave, so I simmer them.
  5. Do-Ahead:

      I have made this up completely except the final oven heating and refrigerated overnight (and most of the following day). Then put it in the oven, where it'll take a lot longer than 20 minutes to come up to a simmer. I then spoon it all out into an electric warming pan for buffet service.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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