Eggplants Stuffed with Tomatoes, Onions and Garlic in Olive Oil - Imam Bayıldı

Eggplants Stuffed with Onions and Garlic in Olive Oil - Imam Bayıldı

The name of this famous dish  "Imam Bayıldı" means "Priest Fainted", supposedly with pleasure after eating this dish. The original recipe calls for frying the eggplants first, before cooking them with the rest of the ingredients. Based on my friend Fatos' recipe, I've tried roasting them instead. It turned out delicious, so my recipe was modified forever.

It has simple ingredients, yet is a very tasty eggplant dish. Traditionally served at room temperature as a side dish or as meze/appetizer. I hope you enjoy it as much as "imam" did.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium eggplants
  ( I use light purple Japanese eggplants since they have less seeds in them)
• 4 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, each cut in 2-3 pieces
• 3 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

Directions:

Wash and roast the eggplants on barbecue. Put aside, let them cool down, peel the skins, set aside.

Cut onions in half and thinly slice. In a pan, sauté onions in olive oil over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes. Add sugar (optional), salt and pepper to your taste. Cover and let it simmer over low-medium heat until all vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. If the tomatoes are juicy, you won't need to add any water. If not, add a glass of boiling water to the pot to let the vegetables simmer in the sauce. Right after removing it from heat, add chopped parsley, gently stir.  This will be the filling for the eggplants.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange eggplants in an oven safe dish. Gently open the middle part of the eggplants lengthwise. Using a spoon, place vegetable filling in the middle of each eggplant. Try to take the vegetables only, leaving most of the sauce in the pot. Using a spoon, pour some of the sauce left in the pot around the eggplants. Place the dish in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature. Transfer to a serving dish, enjoy!

Onions, garlic and tomatoes cooked in olive oil

Add chooped parsley to the filling

Arrange roasted eggplants in an oven-safe dish

Middle of the eggplants are gently opened to put the filling in

Eggplants are filled with cooked vegetables

Fresh out of the oven

Imam Bayildi - Eggplants Stuffed with Onions, Garlic and Tomatoes

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!