If I were stranded on a desert island and could eat only one food, I think this would be it: grilled eggplant dip. The Levantine dip has many names, but I know it best by its Arabic name: “baba ghanouj” or “baba ghanoush.”
It has everything: hearty eggplant, smokiness from grilling, tangy lemon, spicy garlic, salty salt.
All recipes emerge from both invention and tradition, but this one of mine is particularly derivative. Don’t take my word for it–go visit Joumana Accad’s blog and pore over the many recipes for eggplant dips, or check out Rasha and Rasha’s recipes for mezze.
Here’s how magic happens:
Step 1: grill or roast your eggplants
If grilling, turn up the flame to medium. Pierce your eggplant all around with a fork. Grill for about 10 minutes, turning so that each side has a chance to char. If your eggplant looks a little deflated, don’t worry. You haven’t hurt its feelings. You’ve just made something delicious. Finally, peel the skin off the outside and you’re ready for action.
Or…you could always oven roast the eggplant, which is less ideal but also delicious. Preheat your oven to 450 Fahrenheit. Cut your eggplant in half and place it on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Pierce the skin of the eggplants and slip them into the oven. Bake for around 40 minutes. When slightly cooled, scoop out the eggplant flesh. Since oven-roasted eggplants are a little juicer than grilled eggplants, squeeze out some of the liquid using a mesh wire strainer.
Step 2: the flavors
While I could probably dip a chip in nothing but puréed eggplant, do consider some of the following additions:
Garlic: I go for more garlic here than usual–two cloves. You want a little bite for this dip. Raw garlic, in all its spicy goodness, does the trick.
Tahini: Not to be overdone in my opinion. I used two tablespoons per large eggplant.
Olive oil: Just a little.
Lemon juice: or vinegar. I didn’t have any lemons–not for lemonade, not for baba ghanoush. But I did have white wine vinegar, and it turned out divine.
Salt: To taste.
Step 3: mix it all up
You might want to use a food processor. But if you like it chunky, just mix it by hand.
Finally, enjoy this moody food photo of baba ghanoush inside a forest of vegetables!
Or, get a load of these dips!
