Dubai`s cooking competitions are in their pick obviously . And for this one I decided to write a post as it was so much fun. Top Chef Dubai (www.topchefdubai.com) is a culinary school located on Jumeirah Road (opposite Mercato Mall) and this year they started the first of its kind competition- Top Chef. Selected by their executive chef Hadrien Villedieu the 8 finalists gathered together for a secret cook off challenge.

We were ready to go and Chef presented us the secret till now  dish- Ratatouille. Our mission was to cook our version of it and get creative with the presentation.

All the ingredients were fresh and some of them even organic, imported from France. Studuos` kitchen is every foodies` dream and it was easy to get familiar with the stoves and ovens. We had 5 mins in the pantry room and 90 mins to execute the dish. Me and another foodie are going to the final next week. Pictures of 8 of us and my winning plate are below. You can also find the recipe for this summer Ratatouille. Fingers crossed for the Final!

My winning plate

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

– 3 eggpants

– 2 red bell peppers

– 2 yellow bell peppers

– 2 green bell peppers

– 5 small courgettes

– 2 red onions

– basil

– thyme

– 1 kg of ripe tomatoes

– garlic cloves

– salt, pepper and 1 tbsp of sugar

– 1 tbsp raisins

– 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

– olive oil

– Parmesan shavings

Preparation:

1. Cut the peppers (keep 1/3 of them aside), eggplant, 1 onion and courgettes into slices with the same size. Place them into baking tray put some crushed garlic cloves, thyme, basil and drizzle with oilive oil and sea salt flakes. Bake on 200 degrees for 40 mins.

2. For the tomato sauce chop the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and raisins into big chunks. Saute with olive oil until the veggies are soft. Cook for 20 mins and season with salt and pepper plus a spoon of sugar. Take the sauce out and strain it to get smooth and velvety tomato puree.

3. Grill the remain peppers. Cut them into small chunks add one clove garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.

4. Assembly your plate by starting with a spoon of the tomato puree. Make a small tower form the grilled veggies. Add a spoon of the peppers salsa on a side. Decorate your plate with extra tomato puree and finish it with two shavings Parmesan cheese.