BABA GHANOUSH
BABA GHANOUSH
#SIAintheKitchen
Who hear is an eggplant fan? ME. I love anything made with eggplant with basically any preparation - broiled, pureed, roasted. stewed. Drool. Utter drool. But one of my favourite preparations of all time is baba ghanoush. You know what I’m talking about.
Broiled or fire-roasted eggplant blended up with tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. Swoon. This Lebanese dish is a staple whenever I have leftover eggplants in the house. Although it is typically favoured to burn the skins off of this dish, I do a shortcut version of it where I go ahead and just roast them in the oven without peeling the skins off. Yes, I acknowledge that this will lack the smokiness that you get by broiling off the skins or doing so over fire but meh, laziness persists!
All in all, this is still one of my favourite dips of all time. This is a small amount but you can easily manipulate the recipe to expand the volume of the outcome. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and za’atar and serve with some bread - literally any type will do. Keep in mind that these are all approximations. You’re welcome.
BABA GHANOUSH - makes 1 cup
1 Japanese eggplant
kosher salt
extra virgin olive oil
salt + pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves
4 tbsp tahini
~1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Dice the eggplant into 2” in pieces a colander. Sprinkle generously wth kosher salt and let the moisture weep out for 15 - 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or wrap. Rinse the salt off the eggplant and pat dry. Transfer to a small bowl and toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the eggplant on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the eggplant.
Transfer the eggplant to a food processor along with the garlic, tahini and olive oil. Process until smooth. Serve with pita or bread and za’atar and extra olive oil.