Roasting eggplant renders the flesh a creamy magical smoky rich texture. This simple dish elevates anything you want to serve it with, beyond the classic pita and toasted bread- it’s a great dip with seasonal vegetables, a creamy rich accompaniment to roasted meats or vegetables or tossed with pasta for a creamy low carb sauce.
You only need a few ingredients; a couple roasted and peeled eggplant, tahini, juice of one lemon, garlic and olive oil. I took the below photo after I roasted and peeled the eggplant…not too pretty:(
Baba Ghanoush
- 2 or 3 medium-sized eggplants-roasted and peeled
- 1/2 cup (130g) tahini
- 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
- 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder -optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Chopped fresh herbs are great-dill, basil, chives, cilantro. Any soft fresh herb you like will be delightful.
To roast the eggplant you can use a stove top-gas or electric, an oven or grill. All work equally well. The key is to poke the eggplant before you roast it, so it doesn’t explode (no kidding) and cook it with a really high heat for at least 15 or 20 minutes on a grill or stovetop. It takes a good long time to blackened and collapse like this.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl (peel the eggplant!) and mash it up. You can use an immersion blender if you want it smooth.
Taste is, it should be bright and creamy and a little bite of garlic at the end. It looks like poi….tastes a lot nicer than poi :)
This is a great dish to add to your repertoire of simple farm meals.
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