I’m sharing a Middle-Eastern recipe with you today. It’s called baba ganoush and a dish of eggplant (aubergine) mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. The Arabic term means “father of pestle”. Baba ganoush can be an appetizer or starter but also a side dish or salad. It is made of roasted, peeled, and mashed eggplant, blended with tahini, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Cumin and chili powder can be added.

The eggplant is first roasted, then the softened flesh is scooped out, squeezed or salted to remove excess water and then is pureed with tahini. There are many variants of the recipe, especially the seasoning. I learnt this version from a Japanese friend of mine, Maki.

I didn’t scoope out the softened flesh, I served it in the eggplant skin and I made a tahini lemon yoghurt sauce to go with it. I served it with Arabic bread and a big bowl of salad.

At the end of August we spent a a long weekend with friends at a wonderful place, called Lake Balaton like last year. During the weekend I was responsible for the salads and side dishes to make. I had many helping hands (I needed) to cook everything while I was also nursing my son. 🙂

Roasted Eggplant With Tahini Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients (serves 6)

– 2 large eggplants, halved the long way
– 6 tablespoons + 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
– 400 g soy yoghurt / yoghurt
– 4 tablespoons tahini
– 1/2 teaspoon cumin
– juice of 1 lemon
– 1 clove garlic, chooped
– 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
– salt
– sesame seeds, for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Place eggplant halves on a glass baking pan lined with paper. With a sharp knife, cut crisscross vents about 1 cm (0,39 inch) apart across the flesh. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle with a few pinches of salt, then bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together yoghurt, tahini, 4 teaspoons olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley (leave a bit for garnish), lemon juice, cumin. Season with salt.

Serve the eggplant halves with the sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds and the remaining parsley. Also serve with pita as a spread or as a side dish with steamed brown rice and salad.