Recipe: D.I.Y. Baba Ghanoush

We get stuck on certain foods, every so often, and it's hard to tear ourselves away. Baba ghanoush, the Middle Eastern spread of roasted eggplant, is one of these things. We first made it a few weeks ago, tore through it, and promptly made more. It's become a summer staple in our kitchen. We love the sweet, smoky taste and luscious creaminess that belies its low-fat vegetable base.

Next time we'd like to try grilling the eggplant for even more smokiness; it tastes so good with its fresh garlic and the bite of tahini. Try it spread on good sandwich bread with tomatoes and mozzarella too.

D.I.Y. Baba Ghanoush
about 1 1/2 cups

1 large eggplant
Black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
Olive oil

Heat oven to 400ºF. Cut eggplant in half and roast, cut side up, for about an hour, or until very soft. Let cool for at least an hour and press out and drain the bitter juice that leaks out.

Scoop the flesh out and blend in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour to let the flavors blend. This will stay good for about a week, if you can keep it around that long!

Related Links
• Word of Mouth: Disgorge
• Why is My Eggplant Bitter?
• Virtual CSA Box: Eggplant

Comments (6)

Two points.

The choice of tahini sauce is really important when making hummus or baba ghanoush. Sahadi's in brooklyn has their own line of tahini, and it is great. Wholefoods also has a brand that's great. Don't settle for the can stuff.

A second thing; if the consistency of your hummus or baba ghanoush is too think, add a little water to it. I can't stress the importance of the added water enough.

Last night I was looking through my cookbooks for a baba ghanoush recipe (I hadn't seen this post yet). One recipe I looked at called for paprika and coriander, and the other fresh cilantro. Has anyone added any of these seasonings to their baba ghanoush?

Claudia Rodan in Arabesque has a Lebanese variation that adds 3/4 to 4/5 cup of strained
Greek-style Yogurt.
The rest of the ingredients are prettly much the same.

But instead of 1 eggplant she is using 2 (about 1 1/2 lbs) and 3 TB Tahini.

She also opts for pricking them to keep from exploding and turning them over a gas burner, barbecue or under the broiler till the skin is charred and they feel very soft. That way you get the smoky flavor.

I've done it over a gas burner and although it comes out beautifully, the cleanup is ungodly.

I've had a similar version in Bitar's in Philadelphia many times and it is delicious.

I second the recommendation of Sahadi's tahini. We don't have Whole Foods in west Alabama, but my local health food store, Manna Groceries, carries the brand. Delicious!

I've been adding smoked paprika and a little balsamic vinegar to my baba ghanoush -- the extra smokiness and the sweet-and-sour flavor from the vinegar are delicious.

Baba Ghanoush is a very popular middle Eastern dish that is prepared with roasted/grilled eggplants. Same is with Muttabal, another dip that is prepared with roasted/grilled eggplants.
Many people, even some restaurants, use the names of both dishes interchangeably. In the middle East the dish prepared with Tahini sauce (your recipe) refers to Muttablal. For Baba ghanoush, roast the eggplant and peel, then chop, add a finely diced tomato, 2 cloves garlic (crushed) and some chopped parsley. add salt, lemon juice, olive oil and some clack pepper, mix well and you have baba ghanoush another delicious Middle Eastern dish. hope you enjoy:)
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