Baba Ganoush aka Eggplant Dip x2

Roasted Eggplant Dip

We have been flush with eggplants lately and finding new ways to enjoy them has been fun.

The farm manager at Orchard Pond shared her baba ganoush recipe, which we loved. Then we tried Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Spread, which is basically baba ganoush with (as Ina says) "the volume turned up."

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients
2 pounds eggplant
1/2 cup tahini
juice of 2 lemons
4 cloves garlic
parsley or cilantro

Directions

Slice eggplant in half and roast at about 425 until they are complete mush. Scoop out the insides and mix it in a food processor with the tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Chop a bit of herbs and add those in. Salt and pepper and paprika to top it all off.

Roasted Eggplant Spread adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

veggies roasting in the oven

2 medium eggplants, peeled
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are caramelized and soft, turning as needed during cooking. Cool.

caramelized and delicious!

Place the roasted garlic cloves, lemon juice and tahini in the blender and blend until smooth. Add the rest of the veggies and spin on the lowest setting for a few seconds  Taste for salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and add the chopped parsley. Garnish with extra parsley.

Lessons learned: peeling and chopping the eggplant before roasting it definitely yields more flavor. I also prefer the mellow sweetness of roasted garlic over the sharp bite of raw garlic so next time we make plain baba ganoush we'll try those two subtle adjustments.