Aubergines slow-braised with a sweet onion, garlic and tomato filling under a generous slick of olive oil. Vegan, eaten at room temperature, and better the next day.
Prep
25 mins
Cook
1h 10m
Servings
4
Per serving
£1.05
Difficulty
medium
The story goes that the imam fainted, either from pleasure or at the sight of how much olive oil went in. Either way, do not reduce it. The oil is the cooking medium and the sauce, and once cooled it sets into something silky around the collapsed aubergine.
Peel the aubergines in stripes and soak them in heavily salted cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and dry thoroughly.
Heat 5 tbsp of the olive oil in a wide pan and brown the aubergines whole for 8 minutes, turning, until softened and coloured on all sides. Lift into a baking dish.
Add another 5 tbsp oil to the pan and cook the sliced onions over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely soft and sweet without browning.
Low and slow is the point. Browned onions make this taste like a different dish entirely.
Add the sliced garlic and cook 3 minutes, then stir in the three chopped tomatoes, the sugar, allspice and 1.5 tsp of the salt. Cook for 10 minutes until jammy.
Take off the heat and fold in three-quarters of the parsley and half the lemon juice. Taste: it should be sweet, savoury and slightly sharp.
Heat the oven to 170C fan. Slit each aubergine down the middle without cutting through, and press open to make a wide pocket. Season inside with the remaining salt.
Stuff each one generously with the onion mixture, mounding it up, and lay a tomato slice on top.
Pour the remaining olive oil, the rest of the lemon juice and 200ml water into the dish around the aubergines. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Let it cool completely in the dish, then serve at room temperature with the remaining parsley scattered over.