İmam Bayıldı — Olive-Oil Braised Stuffed Aubergines

Aubergines stuffed with slow-cooked onions, tomatoes and garlic and braised in olive oil, served cold.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1h
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 small, long aubergines
  • Sunflower oil, for frying
  • 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
  • 3 large onions, thinly sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt, plus extra for the aubergines
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 100ml hot water
  • 1 tomato, sliced, for topping

Method

  1. Peel the aubergines in alternating stripes, then soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

  2. Fry the aubergines in 2cm of hot sunflower oil, turning, for 5 to 6 minutes until golden and partly soft. Drain on kitchen paper.

  3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onions for 15 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the garlic for 2 minutes, then the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, 1 tsp salt and pepper. Cook for 8 minutes.

  4. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Slit each aubergine lengthways to make a pocket and place in a baking dish. Fill with the onion mixture and top with tomato slices.

  5. Mix the lemon juice with the hot water and pour around the aubergines. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes.

  6. Cool to room temperature, drizzle with olive oil and serve with bread.