Imam Bayildi

The Turks and the Greeks may argue over whose dish this is but it is more popularly known as Imam Bayildi which is Turkish for "the priest swooned", either because it tasted so good or over the amount of olive oil used!

In Greece it may even be called by a different name but no matter which one of the hundred variations you choose it will be most delicious.

Ingredients
Serves 4
4 aubergines, long slim ones ideally
1 lemon, halved
120ml extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 red peppers, seeds removed, cut into 1cm strips
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
400g tinned tomatoes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 sprigs of fresh oregano
1 tsp dried oregano
salt
black pepper

Method

Shave long, alternate strips of peel off the aubergines, top to bottom, so they end up striped. Starting 2cm from the top, make an incision halfway into the flesh and cut down to 2cm shy of the bottom.

Put the aubergines in a large bowl and cover with two and a half litres of cold water. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon, drop in the skin and sir in two teaspoons of salt. Put a small plate on top to keep the aubergines submerged. Leave to soak for 45 minutes.

Drain, then dry in a clean tea towel.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high temperature. Fry the aubergines for 8 - 10 minutes, turning regularly until nicely browned on all sides. Remove from the pan.

Turn down the heat to a medium-low, add the onion and peppers and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often until soft but not coloured.  Add the garlic and spices, cook for a minute, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, fresh oregano, and season with well with pepper and a little salt.

Turn the heat to low, put the aubergines on top of the veg, cover the pan and cook for 45 minutes, until the aubergines are steamed through.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. 

Carefully lift out the cooked aubergines and place them cut side up in a ceramic baking dish. The size of the dish should be just enough for the aubergines to fit snugly. Prise open the aubergine so they look like long canoes, then sprinkle the inside with a generous pinch of salt.

Discard the oregano sprigs from the vegetable sauce, then spoon the sauce into the aubergines, filling them as much as possible; but don't worry if some sauce spills out around them.

Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

Remove the foil and leave the aubergines to cool to room temperature.

Serve topped with a sprinkling of dried oregano.