Ingredients:
- 4 large Eggplants
- 3 peeled and crushed garlic cloves
- Juice of 1 large fresh lemon
- 1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste)
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
- Salt to taste
For Garnish:
- Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Handful of fresh Pomegranate seeds
- Shelled walnut halves
- Olive Oil
- Sumac (ground grape seeds)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash the eggplants, poke them 4-5 times then place them on and oven safe tray, roast, uncovered, for 45 minutes. They will shrink in size and look charred, which is good and will enhance the flavor.
2. Once the eggplants have roasted, cut off the stalks. Carefully take each eggplant and remove the skin. Be careful, they will be hot. You can use your hands or use a knife to “scrape” the skin. It should come off easy. Place the “insides” of the eggplant in a bowl.
3. Now it’s time to mash the eggplants. Use a fork to mash but you can gently slice the eggplants with a knife first. You want to end up with puree looking eggplant. You don’t want big chunks, you want the eggplants to look almost like a salsa.
4. Once the eggplants have been mashed well, add the tahini, lemon juice, crushed garlic, yogurt, and salt and mix all the ingredients until well blended. It should come out lighter and creamier than it’s original state.
5. Pour the baba ghanoush into your serving dish, spreading the mixture with a spoon and raising it slightly over the sides. You want a moat so you can fill it with the olive oil to circle the raised center.
6. Use you imagination and have fun with garnishing this dish. Make star shapes with the pomegranate seeds and place bunches of the chopped parsley on the corners and in the center. Take pinches of the sumac and go in the opposite direction of the pomegranate seeds to add more color and food decor to your already amazing looking dish. Place walnut halves on 4 corners of the dish for that final pop of wow!
7. Serve with pita wedges or pita chips and enjoy!
Sah-tien!
