İmam Bayıldı
İmam Bayıldı·(ee-mahm bah-yuhl-duh)
Zeytinyağlılar (The Olive Oil Cooling Rack)
In Turkey, a dish cooked in olive oil isn't just a method—it's a religion. They call them zeytinyağlılar: vegetables cooked low and slow, meant to be eaten at room temperature to beat the Mediterranean heat. Legend says a priest fainted the first time he tasted this meltingly soft eggplant stuffed with sweet caramelized onions, garlic, and tomatoes. The old-school way requires you to stand over a stove deep-frying whole eggplants until your kitchen is coated in grease. We're skipping that. Modern Turkish grandmothers just roast them in the oven instead. You get all the luxurious, unapologetically authentic flavor of the homeland, without the mess. Serve it cold with a chunk of crusty bread to mop up the glorious oil, and you'll understand exactly why the imam swooned.
Before you start
Peel the eggplants in alternating strips.
Using a vegetable peeler, peel lengthwise strips of skin off each eggplant to create a striped, pyjama-like pattern, which helps them hold their shape.
Soak the eggplants in salted water to remove bitterness.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in a large bowl of cold water, submerge the eggplants, and let them soak for 30 minutes to pull out bitterness and prevent them from acting like oil sponges, then dry them thoroughly.
Ingredients
- Italian eggplants4 med
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- extra-virgin olive oil1/3 cup
- yellow onions2 large
- Anaheim or Cubanelle peppers3 med
- garlic cloves8 large
- ripe tomatoes3 med
- granulated sugar1 tsp
- kosher salt1 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- fresh flat-leaf parsley1/2 cup
- hot water1/2 cup
- tomato paste1 tbsp
- fresh lemon juice1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Roast the eggplants until blistered and soft.
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut a deep lengthwise slit down the middle of each dried eggplant to create a pocket, brush them generously inside and out with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and roast on a parchment-lined sheet for 30 to 40 minutes.
- 02
Caramelize the onions slowly.
In a wide, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat half of your remaining 1/3 cup of olive oil over medium. Add the sliced onions and sauté patiently for about 10 minutes until deeply softened and sweet.
- 03
Build the aromatic stuffing.
Toss in the sliced peppers and whole garlic cloves, cooking for another 5 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper.
- 04
Simmer the filling until thick.
Let the mixture bubble for 10 minutes until the tomatoes break down and the juices thicken, then remove from the heat and fold in the parsley.
- 05
Stuff the eggplants like little boats.
Place the roasted eggplants into the Dutch oven, gently press into the slits to open them up, and generously pack the hot onion and tomato stuffing inside each one.
- 06
Braise the stuffed eggplants to marry the flavors.
Whisk the hot water, tomato paste, and lemon juice together, pour it into the bottom of the pot, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the eggplants, cover, and simmer gently over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- 07
Cool the dish completely before serving.
Remove the pot from the heat and leave the lid on until the dish reaches room temperature, allowing the eggplant to fully absorb the braising liquid and oil before serving.
Notes
Leave the garlic cloves whole.
Minced garlic turns bitter during the long braise. Whole cloves slowly confit in the olive oil, becoming sweet, buttery, and incredibly mild.
Do not skip the sugar.
In the Ottoman tradition, a touch of sugar acts as a flavor enhancer for olive oil dishes, balancing the acidity of the tomatoes and elevating the natural sweetness of the caramelized vegetables.
Make this a day ahead.
This dish is explicitly designed to be eaten cold or at room temperature, and it tastes significantly better on the second day after the flavors have melded in the fridge.
From Cook Turkish in America.