Baba Ghannouj

There is no greater gift someone  can give me then something picked from thier garden & warm from the sun. (hint-hint, to anyone out there with a blackberry bush currently in fruit) Mr Bake and Bloom & I plan to move out of our flat in the city & into a 4 bedroom house later this year because, desipe being the daughter of a landscape designer & a floral design student I have no garden & it breaks my heart. I can’t wait to begin planting & hope to become as close to self sustainability as possible. Gifts from the garden to me are so deeply rewarding, I cant wait to have a garden of my own so I can pass my own produce along.

One of the women at work had an abundance of eggplant growing & no clue as to what she might do with those beautiful purple fruit. She brought me a whole plastic shopping bag of them & I knew I had to make Baba Ghannouj, which is a well seasoned middle eastern eggplant & tahini dip. It is quick to make (once the eggplant have been cooked) healthy & has a rich smokey flavour.

If you have never tried it you might find the flavour a little overpowering at first but it is wonderful for spreading on toasted pita bread or dipping croutettes.

Baba Ghannouj

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 4 roasted cloves of garlic, mashed (or if you’re time poor a bit of garlic seasoning works well)
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice + the zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp Tahini
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200c/400f
2. Cut the eggplant in half & prick with a fork. Then place on a cookie sheet and put into the hot oven.
3. Roast the eggplant + garlic for about 40 minutes or until very soft inside.
4. Cool completely. (I do this in the fridge overnight with some olive oil wrapped in tin foil)
5. Scoop out the eggplant’s pulp and place in a bowl, squeeze out the garlic & add remaining ingredients into the bowl. Mash with a fork or use a stick blender, puree until the dip comes together but still has some texture.
6. Refrigerate. Serve chilled with toasted pita bread, drizzled with olive oil (mine had some harissa in it also)& sprinkled with paprika.

So next time someone gifts you a heaping bag of eggplant from their garden, give them back some baba ghnnouj & make them smile.