İmam Bayıldı

Ingredients

• 4 medium long aubergines, about 250g each
• 150ml good olive oil, plus more for frying
• 3 onions, halved and sliced thinly into half-moons
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and chopped, plus 2 more for topping
• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
• Large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 150ml hot water
• Juice of half a lemon
• Crusty bread and thick yogurt to serve

Before you cook

• Peel the aubergines in stripes with a vegetable peeler, leaving alternating bands of skin.
• Cut a deep slit lengthways down one side of each aubergine, stopping short of both ends and not cutting through.
• Sit the aubergines in heavily salted cold water for 30 minutes to draw out bitterness.
• Drain the aubergines and pat them thoroughly dry inside and out.
• Slice the onions and garlic and chop the tomatoes and pepper.

Steps

1. Heat a shallow layer of olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat.
2. Fry the aubergines whole, turning them, for about 8 minutes until the skin blisters and the flesh softens.
3. Lift them into a baking dish, slit side up, and let them cool a little.
4. Wipe the pan, add 100ml of the olive oil and set it over medium-low heat.
5. Cook the sliced onions with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes, stirring often, until completely soft and sweet without browning.
6. Add the sliced garlic and diced green pepper and cook for 5 minutes more.
7. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and black pepper and cook for 10 minutes until thick and jammy.
8. Take the pan off the heat and fold through most of the parsley.
9. Heat the oven to 180C.
10. Open the slit in each aubergine with two spoons to make a deep pocket.
11. Pack the onion filling generously into each pocket, mounding it up.
12. Whisk the tomato paste and lemon juice into the hot water with a pinch of salt and pour it around, not over, the aubergines.
13. Lay a slice of tomato on top of each aubergine and trickle over the remaining olive oil.
14. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
15. Remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes more until the tops colour and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy pool.
16. Cool to room temperature, which is how the dish is meant to be eaten, and scatter with the last of the parsley.