Vered's Israeli Cooking

Imam Bayildi, Turkish stuffed eggplant

Vered Guttman
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Imam Bayildi (literally, the Imam swooned) is a popular Turkish dish of stuffed eggplant with tomato and onion.

There are many stuffed vegetable dishes around the Mediterranean, and quite a few versions of stuffed eggplants. Some examples include the Italian stuffed eggplant with tomato and cheese; Arab stuffed eggplant with rice and lamb in tomato sauce; And some version of just ground lamb and spices; there’s an Arab pickled eggplant (makdous) from the Levant that’s stuffed with walnut and red peppers; and another levantine pickled eggplant stuffed with herb and garlic. Many of these recipes are popular these days in Israel too, a place where people can never have enough eggplant.

Imam Bayildi is a wonderful vegan dish with deep and bold flavors. It’s on my rotation now too.

Imam Bayildi, Turkish stuffed eggplant
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Imam Bayildi, Turkish stuffed eggplant

Recipe by Vered GuttmanCourse: Appetizers, sides, mainCuisine: TurkishDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

45

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

45

minutes
Total time

2

hours 

30

minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 Italian eggplant

  • Oil spray

  • ½ cup olive oil

  • 2 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced

  • 1 large can (28 oz.) peeled tomatoes

  • 1 small can (14 oz.) peeled tomato

  • 1 cup chopped Italian parsley

  • Kosher salt

  • ½ teaspoon chili flakes (optional)

  • ¼ cup lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

  • Turn oven to 425 F degrees. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with oil.
  • Cut eggplant to half lengthwise, spray with oil on both sides and put them cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or until the cut side is very tender and shows no resistance when you poke it with your finger. Transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Reduce oven heat to 350 F degrees.
  • While the eggplant are roasting, cook the filling. Put oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and cook until golden, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Strain juice from tomato cans and use your hands or a knife to break the tomatoes, then add to the pot with the onion. Add parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and chili flakes, mix and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 45-60 minutes until the tomato sauce is very very thick. Stir occasionally and keep very low simmer. If tomato sauce becomes so thick that it starts spraying boiling droplets all over, know that it’s a good thing, but you may want to reduce the heat further, partially cover the pot, and be very careful not to burn yourself.
  • Flip the eggplants in the baking sheet so the cut side is up and use a fork to gently mush the flesh and make room for the filling.
  • Generously pile the filling onto the eggplant. In a small glass mix lemon juice, sugar and oil until sugar is dissolved, and drizzle a little bit on each eggplant.
  • Bake at 350 F degrees for 45 minutes until nicely brown. Serve hot, warm or even at room temperature.
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