Baba Ganoush (Roasted Eggplant Dip)

Baba ganoush is an amazing roasted eggplant dip that's incredibly simple to make. If you love hummus, then you will love baba ganoush. I love serving it with crisp vegetables, flatbread, and baked pita chips. Soft, sweet, and slightly smokey roasted eggplant is combined with tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds), fresh lemon juice, garlic, and spices. It's absolutely divine.

Baba ganoush is best left rustic with some texture. Because of this, simply mashing and stirring with a fork is all that's needed. You can make this in a food processor or blender. Be careful, though. It will become much smoother. This gets even better after a day or two in the refrigerator, so this is perfect for making ahead.

2 medium eggplants (about 2 lbs or 900 g)
¼ cup Tahini Paste (60 mL)
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, optional

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and turn broiler on (high heat). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place eggplants onto the baking sheet and prick in several places using a fork. This helps steam escape while the eggplants roast. Broil eggplants 2 minutes on all sides. The skin will darken a little and begin to smell smoky, adding lots of flavour to the dip.

Turn broiler off, but do not remove eggplants from the oven.

Heat oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5).

Roast eggplants until very soft; 25-30 minutes. Cool 10-15 minutes until easily handled.

While the eggplants roast, combine tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin and the salt in a medium bowl. Set aside so the flavours meld.

Split the roasted eggplants, drain excess liquid, scrape out the flesh, and add to the tahini mixture. (Discard excess liquid and skins). Mash the roasted eggplant into the tahini mixture with a fork until somewhat smooth with some texture remaining.

Cool to room temperature then stir in parsley and drizzle the top with olive oil. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Makes approximately 6 servings.

Cook's Notes:

• Garlic: We enjoy the extra kick garlic gives here. The tahini stands up very well to the garlic. If you're not sure you want to use three cloves, reduce it to two or even one clove.
• Tahini: Tahini is a paste make from ground sesame seeds. You can find jars sold in most grocery stores. Look where international foods are sold. You can also buy it online or easily make tahini at home yourself.
• How to Make Baked Pita Chips: Cut 2-3 pitas into wedges. Add to a baking sheet and bake in a 375 degree F oven until lightly browned and crisp; 7-10 minutes.

Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 1/6 of the recipe / Calories 116 / Protein 4 g / Carbohydrate 14 g / Dietary Fiber 6 g / Total Sugars 7 g / Total Fat 6 g / Saturated Fat 1 g / Cholesterol 0 mg