Ingredients
Base Recipe
- 2 kg Italian eggplants
- 4 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing/ spraying the eggplant
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
Optional
- Pinch of smoked paprika, for garnish (optional)
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
- Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil for garnish
Instructions
Preparation - Eggplant
- Preheat the oven to 230 degrees with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the eggplant from sticking to the pan (Or use a silicone baking mat in a shallow but not flat cookie tray, there will be juices).
- Halve the eggplants lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with canola oil. Place them in the prepared pan with the halved sides down.
- Roast the eggplant until the interior is very tender throughout and the skin is collapsing, about 35 to 40 minutes (this might take longer if you are using 1 large eggplant). Set the eggplant aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Flip the eggplants over and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon, leaving the skin behind.
- OPTIONAL - Place a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl, then transfer the flesh to the strainer and discard the skins. Pick out any stray bits of eggplant skin and discard. You want to remove as much moisture from the eggplant here as possible, so let the eggplant rest for a few minutes and shake/stir the eggplant to release some more moisture. Discard all of the eggplant drippings, drain and wipe out the bowl, and dump the eggplant into the bowl.
Assembly - Blender
- If you have a food processor thats great, depending on the volume you make I use a 2 Litre mixing bowl and an immersion blender, but you can also just use a fork.
- Choose your vessel, transfer eggplant pulp (with or without seeds, I advise trying it with seeds to see if you can justify the extra effort mentioned above)
- MANUAL METHOD - Add the garlic and lemon juice to the eggplant and stir vigorously with a fork until eggplant breaks down. Add the tahini to the bowl and stir until it’s incorporated. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the canola oil. Continue stirring until the mixture is pale and creamy, and use your fork to break up any particularly long strings of eggplant. Stir in the parsley, salt and cumin.
- BLENDER METHOD - Add garlic, lemon juice, tahini to the eggplant pulp, pulse until well combined. Add the salt, cumin and liquid smoke, pulse, taste. Adjust salt and cumin to taste, if you are worried about the liquid smoke use half as much to start, its very potent stuff. Measure out the canola oil and add it to the blender, while mixing is best, but you can just add it, clean off the measuring cup and then blend, just make sure it all gets incorporated to ensure a good texture.
Storage
- Baba Ganoush will keep for 4 days, up to a week in the fridge, we make quite a lot in one sitting so it lives in a repurposed 1kg Hummus container in the fridge.
- You can freeze this recipe, but when you defrost you will want to whip it back into a smooth consistency as the ingredients will likely separate.
Garnish - Serving
- If you are serving this for a gathering, stir through or sprinkle over some fresh chopped parsley, smoked paprika powder and a drizzle of olive or more canola oil, we just prefer to keep the base mix clean.
- Great served with Turkish pide, Lebanese flatbreads, vegetable sticks, or as a sandwich spread for panini. You can also use it to make a creamy sauce for pasta :)
Notes
*EGGPLANT SELECTION: Large eggplants tend to contain more seeds, which can produce a bothersome texture. So, it’s better to use 2 small eggplants that weigh about 1 kilogram total, rather than 1 large. Choose eggplants that are shiny and smooth (no mushy parts), and feel heavy for their size. Turn your eggplant into baba ganoush promptly, since overripe eggplant tastes more bitter.
- I haven't had any of the above problems but it could be the benefit of homegrown produce?
- Confession time : My husband and I are a little obsessed with this smokey eggplant dip we used to have at my Aunts place during family gatherings... enough to break our veganism as it contained eggs... for no logical reason I have ever been able to ascertain! Anyway, I digress... Now we make our own, its vegan, its awesome and we make a big bucket of it when we can... goes marvellously with some fresh baked turkish pide rolls.
- I cut the tahini in half (mostly because it was COVID-19, we were stuck in the house with a huge eggplant bush heavily laden with fruits and barely half a jar of tahini left in the pantry... regardless Husband seems to prefer it this way.
- I reduced the oil and honestly changed it to canola for the Omega 3 bonus... it really didn't hurt it, and being vegan we mulch cultural boundaries with our mad science approach to cuisine all the time... so 1, this is clearly not the worst thing I have altered with my recipes, 2, it will certainly not be the last, 3, I really couldn't give a fuck if my choice of oil ruins anyone's idea on what a recipe should be, and 4, you do you, if you don't like it, don't make it, and don't come visit... we love our canola and Omega 3s are good for you.