Greece and Turkey in combination, creates one great kind of cuisine let me tell you that.

This is my first official post writing from my second home - Greece! I have to say that I feel a bit extra happy to be back in Greece this year. I think all of us have had a different kind of year so far this year, due of corona and isolations and well, I have missed Greece so much and especially my pappou (Greek grandpa) and the Greek food of course!

I have only been in Greece for a few days so far but one of the first things I made when coming here was my pappous’ favorite dish - Imam Bayildi. Imam Bayildi is something I’ve grown up with. My yiayia (GreeK grandma) used to make us this all the time when she was alive, and just let me tell you - my yiayia was the best in cooking. Her recipes was absolutely fantastic and so was her Imam Bayildi and I’m so excited to share my yiayia’s completely VEGAN recipe! f you don’t know what Imam is, I will tell you all about it!

What is Imam Bayildi?

Imam Bayildi is onion and herb stuffed eggplants. This is originally a Turkish recipe but since Greece and Turkey share and have so many foods in common I guess this is more of a Greek version of a Turkish Recipe. This is at leas the recipe my Greek grandma always used to make, so you cn only imagine how old this recipe is!

The onion filling is so moist, so delicious and rich in flavor. The eggplant just simply melts in your mouth for real. And this in combination with some potatoes, parsley and possibly feta cheese for serving - IS THE BEST!

So how do I serve it?

Well, in Grecee we serve it the Greek way - with a Greek salad, a little bit of fresh baked bread and feta cheese. I’m using a “fasting cheese” (which is the same as vegan in Greece) and it suits perfectly. You really don’t need anything else. This IS PURE perfection.

YOU NEED THESE INGREDIENTS:

Eggplants: preferably use rather small fairy tale or graffiti eggplants. These have a softer skin and are very delicious. You are supposed to fill whole pan with the eggplants, and that is approx 12-14 pieces of these kinds. If you use other eggplants (like Italian eggplant) you will need approx 6 eggplants. It really depends on how many suits into the oven pan.

Onion: the whole filling for the imam is based on onion - lots of it! You’ll actually need 1 kg of filling which you’ll fill the eggplants with but also place around the eggplants in the pan.

Olive Oil: is it really a Greek recipe if it doesn’t consist of Greek olive oil? Well, probably not. It’s important to use a high quality olive oil because we use plenty of it in this recipe.

Fresh Parsley: The recipe uses pretty simple ingredients which most people won’t have an issue finding, and the main herb we use in the recipe is fresh parsley - lots of it. Don’t be stingy using it. You need lots of it.

Garlic: imam without garlic? Not possible!

Salt and Black Pepper: two basic spices that is a must too.

Tomatoes and/ or crushed tomatoes: I use a combination of unripped tomatoes and passed tomatoes, but using crushed tomatoes works too.

Potatoes: in between the eggplants in the pan we will place some potato wedges. It makes the dish a little bit more satisfying.

THIS RECIPE IS:

• Vegan

• Gluten Free

• Egg Free

• Nut Free

• So moist and rich in flavor

• Originally a traditional Turkish recipe

• My Greek grandma’s version/ recipe

Imam Bayildi

INGREDIENTS:

approx 14 small eggplants, preferably graffiti or fairy tale eggplants

2 tbsp olive oil

1 kg red onion

300 g passed tomatoes + 3 ripped grated tomatoes (or 400 g crushed tomatoes + 1 tbsp sugar)

A handfull of fresh parsley (approx 2 dl chopped)

2 big garlic cloves 

Approx 1,5 tsp salt

Black pepper

2 potatoes

Water and olive oil

HOW TO MAKE:

• Heat oven to 225 degrees c.

• Brush an oven pan with olive oil.

• Wash off the eggplants and cut off the top. Do a cut on on the length so you cut 2/3 of the eggplant but don’t let the knife cut through it all.

• Brush on olive oil on top of the eggplants and inside the cuts. Do this thoroughly and don’t save on the oil.

• Place the eggplants in the middle of the oven until all eggplants are soft. Meanwhile, make the filling.

• Thinly slice all onions and press the garlic and fry in frying pan with olive oil until transparent and soft.

• Grate the tomatoes (if using tomatoes and not crushed tomatoes in package) and add them and the passed tomatoes to the onion. (Otherwise add crushed tomatoes + 1 tbsp sugar). Combine everything and possibly add a little bit of water.

• Finely chop the parsley and add that to the pan. Add salt and black pepper and combine.

• Let it simmer for approx 5’ on lower heat. Taste and see if it needs more salt and pepper.
  

• Peel the potatoes and cut into potato wedges.

• When the eggplants are soft take them out from the oven and fill each eggplant with the filling. Approx 3 tbsp depending on how big the eggplant is and then place them back into the oven pan.

• Fill each plant until all eggplants are filled. You will probably have filling left and that is totally ok. Place the remaining onion filling in between the eggplants, in the pan, together with the potato wedges. Ripple over approx 1 dl of water and some olive oil too before placing the whole food in the oven.

• Let it bake for approx 45’ until the potato is soft. 

• Keep an eye of the food in the oven pan after a while and add a little bit more water if needed. It’s important that the food doesn’t get roasted and stuck to the pan.

• When the potato is soft, the food is done. Serve preferably with a Greek salad, bread and feta cheese.