“I was born in Zugdidi, I had a very busy and interesting childhood. Besides school, I attended   drawing, dancing and music classes. I did not have a sibling, so I either studied or read books at home. I especially loved going to the sea in the summer in Abkhazia, or touring with the ensemble, or at festivals. We had a remarkably good neighborhood, we ran with the kids, as if in our own home, we knew what food was being cooked in each family. Now that I look back, everyone cooked well. Weddings were especially interesting, all the neighbors had their own “niche” and business :) My mother, for example, used to baked choux buns and cake “Napoleon”, and prepared dishes with hazelnut dressing. There was a different kind of love, friendly and supportive relationships and values.

I graduated from TSU Faculty of Philology, Russian Language and Literature, although I only used my profession for speaking and writing emails. I had quite interesting job, I enjoyed working as a volunteer as well. I have always loved culinary and delicious dishes, my grandmother cooked   marvelously and so did my mother. We had guest every day, so it was a fuss at home all the time. I still cook beans according to my grandmother’s recipe and “Satsivi” according to my mother’s recipe.

A few years ago my friend made Facebook page “What to eat today” and that’s when I started   activity and fussing. I was cooking, baking, and studying something, watching videos and movies about cooking every day. I really don’t like writing recipes and when I’m asked the recipe, I never know the exact grammage. I never cook the same way, I always do it in my own way and I enjoy this process.

The pandemic also coincided with my gastronomic experiments. All this has led me to a small restaurant, where I work as an assistant chef. I really like this job, it is interesting and varied. Here is a totally different dynamics and agility, I learn a lot from my chef and thank him for that :) In the future I am thinking of living outside the city, close to Tbilisi and starting my own small business, we’ll see :)

Georgian cuisine is my favorite, I also love Italian, French cuisine and that is why today I prepared for you the easiest Italian dish. I only used Nadughi and Suluguni instead of ricotta and mozzarella, you should definitely try it yourself. You may also use zucchini instead of eggplant. Enjoy! ” - Lali Jabua

step 1

Cut the eggplant lengthwise, arrange it on baking paper, add salt, pepper, oregano, pour olive oil and put in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

step 2

Prepare the stuffing, mix Suluguni, parmesan, egg, lemon zest, finely chopped parsley and basil, pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

step 3

Add the stuffing to the baked eggplant and roll. Pour the tomato sauce in the baking form, arrange the eggplant, pour the sauce on top again, sprinkle with cheese and bake until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

step 4

To prepare the sauce, sauté finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil and butter.

step 5

Add finely grated carrots, pour wine, then tomatoes, grated tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste, bring to a boil and put aside.

step 6

Mashed potatoes: Boil the potatoes, strain them, add Nadughi, a small piece of Suluguni, milk and butter, grate a pinch of nutmeg, and dough well.

step 7

Place on a baking mold, add grated Suluguni and bake in the oven at 180 degrees until browned.

How To Serve

Bon Appetite!