These stuffed aubergines are irresistible
Melitzanes Imam Bayildi is probably one of my favourite dishes of all time. In fact, it is one of the first dishes I learnt to cook really well. To make it, you stuff aubergines with a sauce made from onions, garlic and tomatoes. You then slow cook them in olive oil in the oven, until they are fall apart tender. It is part of the collection of many Greek and Turkish olive oil based dishes.
When I was 18 and had just finished my A Levels, I spent the summer before starting university in Kefalonia, working in a local taverna. I was there for some months alone, and although I knew how to cook the basics such as pasta and other simple dishes, my skills didn’t go much further than that. So, I bought myself a Greek cookbook with most of the traditional dishes, but with very basic recipes. My innocent young self believed that the secrets of all my favourite dishes would be revealed to me through this book. Well boy, was I wrong! It was going to take a lot more effort to learn to cook like the taverna down the road. I realised that the recipes were really just the starting point. They were very simple and missing half the essential little details like a secret spice or an extra herb.
Cooking was not as easy as it looked
So the first time I made this dish, it was absolutely terrible! Not enough salt, no depth of flavour, and almost totally raw aubergines. My younger self definitely did not understand the concept of slow cooking! And, that patience is a virtue. After great expectations, and great disappointment when I tasted the fruits of my labour, I realised I needed to figure out this cooking thing. I phoned up my mom and my great aunt in Athens (who cooks some of the best Greek food I have ever tried) and diligently scribbled down all of their useful tips and advice. My second attempt was MUCH better, but still not what I would call delicious. I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing so wrong.
To cut a long story short, many attempts later, I figured out what the real key to most Greek dishes is – well other than fresh and flavourful ingredients. PATIENCE. No Greek mother or grandma whips up lunch in half an hour and throws it on the table. Quite the contrary. It is a totally thought out process, planned out the night before, and usually started sometime in the morning. Once it’s in the oven, it’s left there for some time, to just slow bake till it is melt in the mouth and absolutely oozing with flavour. This was a groundbreaking discovery for my teenage self, and has served me so well for most of the Greek dishes that I cook. And it is absolutely essential when cooking Imam Bayildi. Good ingredients and slow cooking will make this a dish you will never forget.
Melitzanes Imam Bayildi is a dish of many nationalities
Melitzanes Imam Bayildi is a dish eaten in many areas that used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. This was the Turkish Empire that began in the 13th century and ended in the 1920s. It spanned much of Western Asia, Northeast Africa and Southeast Europe, including countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and modern day Turkey. As a result, many of the dishes that these modern countries share, are very similar.
In Greece this aubergine dish is called Melitzanes Imam Bayildi, Melitzanes Imam, or just Imam Bayildi. Melitzanes means aubergine in Greek. Imam Bayildi basically means the imam fainted in Turkish. The story goes that he was so delighted with the flavours of the dish, that he fainted with pleasure. Not too unlikely in my opinion, as when made correctly, this dish is truly scrumptious. There is another myth which claims that the imam fainted at the great cost of the olive oil used to make the dish. To be fair this is also pretty likely, as traditionally it is made with a lot of olive oil! I prefer the first myth though, as it’s a little more flattering to the dish!
Melitzanes Imam Bayildi should be served warm, and not piping hot. Most Greek dishes benefit from being served warm. The flavours seem to become richer and stronger. It also tastes pretty good served the next day. Serve with a little extra feta and a piece of crusty village bread on the side.
Melitzanes Imam Bayildi
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Ingredients
- 6 medium-sized aubergines
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- 500g ripe red tomatoes
- 100-125ml olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
- A pinch of cinnamon
- A pinch of cayenne pepper
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A squeeze of lemon juice (if needed)
- Small bunch of flat leaf parsley (approx. 10g), roughly chopped
- 40g feta
Instructions
- To prepare the aubergines, place them lengthwise on a board. Cut the stalks off. Using a peeler or sharp paring knife, peel a 1-2cm strip of skin from the stalk end to the base of the aubergine. Leave a 1-2cm strip of skin, and then peel another strip. Carry on until you have gone all the way around the aubergine and you have a striped effect of skin and flesh showing.
- Cut a slit lengthwise in each aubergine. Salt the peeled parts of the aubergine well to ‘degorge’ them* and place them on a tray. Degorging draws out all the bitter juices. Set the aubergines aside for 30-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and cut the onions in half through their roots. Cut into half rings. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them thinly. Wash the tomatoes well and dice them roughly. Make sure to catch the juice of the tomatoes.
- Heat a deep frying pan with 3tbsp. olive oil on a medium heat. Once the oil is warm, add the sliced onions and fry until they are soft and starting to turn a light golden. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes until it is starting to soften and also turn slightly golden. Add the tomato paste and stir through for a few seconds.
- Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of water, the red wine vinegar and sugar and a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Bring up to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Add more water as needed. Cook until the tomatoes begin to break down and the sauce becomes jammy and thickens.
- Stir through the roughly chopped parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste, and if needed add a little more sugar or a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Rinse the aubergines well, and pat dry.
- Heat a heavy based frying pan with 1tbsp. olive oil. Add a few aubergines and fry until the skin starts to turn golden and the aubergines are softening. They need to be almost cooked through, as this helps them to break down and really soften when they cook in the oven. You will need to turn them quite often and add more olive oil as they cook. Don’t add too much oil though, as aubergines soak it up very quickly.
- When the aubergines are done, remove them from the pan with tongs, and drain on some paper towel. Place in a stainless steel metal baking dish, with the slit facing up. They need to be quite snug in the dish. I find a metal dish gives a better result as it conducts more heat and caramelises the sauce more, but if you don’t have a suitably sized one, ceramic or pyrex will work fine.
- Using a spoon, open the cut slits of the aubergines a little. Work carefully as you don’t want to break the aubergines. Spoon stuffing into each aubergine. You can fill them quite full, piling the stuffing up a little. Spoon any leftover stuffing in between the aubergines.
- Sprinkle feta on top of the stuffing in each aubergine. If you would like to make the dish vegan, just simply leave off the feta. Add a little water in between the aubergines and drizzle 1-2 tbsp. olive oil over the whole dish.
- Cover the baking dish with foil, tenting it a little at the top, so it doesn’t touch the aubergines.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 1-2 hours, until the aubergines are meltingly soft, the sauce is caramelised and the feta is golden and nutty. If the sauce is getting too dry but the aubergines are not done, you can add a little more water to the tray. You may also need to turn the oven down to 160°C (140°C fan).
- Once cooked, remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool down.
- Serve warm with a little extra feta and some crusty village bread on the side.
Notes
*Before cooking the aubergines, you must ‘degorge’ or salt them. This is to draw out any bitter juices. Cut your aubergines as required for the dish you are making. Sprinkle the cut areas of the aubergines generously with salt, then leave on a tray or in a colander in the sink to drain for about 30-40 minutes. They will release a brownish liquid. Discard this and wash the aubergines well. Dry them well with paper towel, then cook as desired. Today, aubergines are not as bitter as they used to be, but I would still advise preparing them in this way, just to be on the safe side.
