Published in 2016, "The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook" continues to be the top-selling book for America's Test Kitchen. That's probably not surprising, given the popularity and health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, along with the rigorous testing that goes into all recipes.
When developing recipes, the Boston-based test kitchen gathers as many variations as possible of a given dish, chooses a half-dozen of the most promising recipes and then does a blind tasting of those dishes. After that, the test kitchen's recipe is constructed and tweaked until the testers reach a consensus. Their motto is: "We make mistakes so you don't have to."
For this stuffed eggplant, the team found they were enamored with a Turkish dish called Imam Bayildi. "Nutty bulgur made a perfect filling base, plum tomatoes lent bright flavor and a bit of moisture, and Pecorino Romano and pine nuts provided richness," the testers wrote in the recipe's "why this works" summary.
