Monday's Greek Recipe- Melitzanes Imambaildi

Melitzanes Imambaildi - Baked Aubergines Stuffed with Tomato Sauce - is of Turkish origin and was brought to Greece by the Greeks of Asia Minor after the  exodus in 1922. My grandfather was one of them. When he married my grandmother in 1934 he set a condition: "I love you dearly", he told her, "but you must learn to cook meltzanes imambaildi." And truly she did! I'll never forget her delicious meltzanes imam baildi. She then taught my mother how to do them. As you can see in the picture above, my mother followed the tradition and she now boasts her imam. Here is the original recipe as it was written down in my grandma's cookery notebook. 

 Ingredients (5-6 servings)

6 medium-sized aubergines

4-5 onions cut in round slices

2-3 ripe tomatoes skinned and finely chopped

2 tomatoes cut into slices

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

3-4 garlic cloves (sliced)

2 teacups olive oil

2 teaspoons sugar

salt - pepper

Directions

1. Remove the stem ends of the aubergines and slice them in half - lengthwise .

2. Drop them in a pot of salted water for about 1 hour to remove their bitter juices.

3. Strain them well and fry them in plenty of oil over a medium fire.

4. Now arrange the fried aubergines in a baking dish.

5. Using a teaspoon scoop half their pulp out, place it in a bowl and keep it aside.

6. In a saucepan, sauté the onions adding the chopped tomatoes, the garlic, the reserved pulp, the parsley, the sugar, salt and pepper. Let them cook for about 20 minutes.over a medium fire.

7. Fill the aubergines with the prepared stuffing, cover each stuffed aubergine with a tomato slice and bake in medium oven for about 45 minutes

Source: The Best Traditional Recipes of Greek Cooking (Editions Haitalis)

Comments

[Lakis Ioannou]

By some weird coincidence or is it a kind of curse(?) whenever I visit your Monday's greek recipes, I am starving! I love meltzanes imam so much! The Greeks from Asia Minor knew how to make them best. Hope you will use your grandma's recipe and learn to cook them as well. I guess it's your turn now!

[Jeff]

No I won't bother to cook that...but if only I could have that...exotic dish for dinner tonight!

[Lucy]

I was wondering what to cook for lunch today and you've just given me a bright idea. Aubergines are great at this time of year and a healthy option too. So I'm off to the supermarket to get my aubergines.

[Haruko]

What a lovely appetizing meal! I sometimes cook aubergines tempura at home as it's a healthy quick meal that everybody likes. Have a great day and thanks again for sharing your grandma's recipes.

[Stefania]

I find vegetables and salads a great option for the summer and much healthier too. As many people in Cyprus, I add small pieces of raw aubergine in salads, I also grill them in round slices. When I do the imambaildi, I don't fry them and put them directly in the oven. I find they are just as tasty.

[Lisa A]

I love aubergines and I will try your grandma's recipe, Anastasia. It looks very delicious. I also use aubergines a lot but with pasta like farfalle or tortellini in fresh tomato sauce together with zucchini and red and yellow peppers. Serve with a mixed green salad and you have a great meal in a few minutes.

[Laura]

I must admit to being a great fan of your Monday greek recipes. I've browsed your blog and collected them all. My family praised your melitzanes papoutsakia so I'm certainly going to give this one a try. But right now just after work, all I need is a cup of tea!

[Walid]

Habebti.
Hello and many thanks to making me cook this dish as the Daily dish for today.I served it with white cooked rice aside.
The point is that every one was aking me why I changed it from the way we cook it in Lebanon. mostly it is cooked the same.We call it here Chekh Al mhshi.Which means the Cheef of stufed cooking.God Bless
With Love Walid.

[Walid]

Habebti.
Hello and many thanks to you Habebti For making me cook this dish, as the Daily dish for today.I served it with white fried cooked rice aside.
The point is that every one was asking me why I changed it from the way we cook it in Lebanon. Mostly it is cooked the same.We call it here Chekh Al Mihshi.Which means the Chief of the stuffed cooking.God Bless
With Love Walid.

[Karolina]

Lisa, I like your combination of zucchini, peppers, aubergines and pasta.

[Karolina]

Anastasia, I love meltzanes imam and cook them often even just for myself. But I do them a bit differently. I also cut them lengthwise but like a cross taking care not to separate the pieces. Then I fry them and in the end I stuff them with a mixture of tomato sauce, spices, onion, garlic , parsley instead of putting slices of tomatoes on top. But either way, they are yummy.

[Andy]

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach!

[Tina]

That dish sounds both exotic AND quite easy to make. Thanks--I will try this ne some time this summer.

[Tina]

And I much prefer the word "aubergine" -we call them "eggplants" here in the U.S.