Imam Bayildi

By amaliana

Adapted from Moveable Feats, Gregory McNamee(Praeger, 2007)

Literally translated "the holy man fainted," Iman Bayildi is a Turkish dish with numerous stories of origin. One delightful folk tale says the Iman married a young woman whose dowry included 12 jars of olive oil; when the bride ran out of oil on the 13th night of marriage and could not prepare his beloved eggplant dish, the Iman fainted.

Ingredients

• 4 medium eggplants(your favorite variety)
• Sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 large Roma or plum tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Fresh parsley or cilantro (if desired)

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Cut the eggplants in half. Scoop out and reserve the pulp, leaving only a thin wall of flesh inside the eggplant shells. Sprinkle the inside of each shell with sea salt. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant pulp, onions and garlic, mixing well. Saute until the onions are soft, approximately 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, mixing well. Simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Rinse the salted eggplant shells, pat dry and fill them with the eggplant mixture. Arrange the filled shells in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Garnish with fresh parsley or fresh cilantro and serve.