There are two different stories about how this Turkish dish, Imam Bayaldi, got its name; one is that it tasted so good that when the priest ate it he fainted, the other is that when his wife told him how much olive oil she’d used to make it he fainted. Either way while  it may have never made me faint, whenever I see nice looking lebanese eggplant I think of making this dish. It’s just as good straight from the oven hot as it is cold or at room temperature. It requires good eggplant, good tomatoes and good quality olive oil to make it really shine. I used eggplants and tomatoes from Double Creek Farm in Imbil, and Fat Hen olive oil from Kilkivan in mine.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

750gm eggplant (I use lebanese ones, but big ones work just as well)

750gm tomatoes, diced

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

200ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs chopped flat parsley

1 tbs chopped fresh mint

juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper

Method:

Cut the eggplants in half and make a couple of deep slits lengthwise through the flesh.

Fry, cut side down in plenty of olive oil until golden, turn and cook on the skin side for another few minutes. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towel.

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add the tomatoes and cook on a low heat until quite reduced and thick. Add the parsley and mint and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the tomato mixture on top of each eggplant and arrange in a single layer in an oven proof baking dish. Squeeze the lemon juice over the eggplants and drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Bake in a 180*C oven for 20 – 30 minutes.

Serve with a salad, some yoghurt sauce and lots of crusty bread.