When I made a trip to my local Food Lovers Market the other day I was amazed at the sheer quantity of Aubergines for sale. And the ridiculous price. 8 for R10. Thats the equivalent of US$0.75 for 8 medium size Eggplant.
So I bought 8, brought them home and pondered on what to do with them.
Fortunately once cooked, brinjals, as they are called here in South Africa, freeze well.
There was also a special on red and green bell peppers. So the obvious choice had to be Ratatouille.
I bought some courgettes (Zucchini), and along with onions, garlic, fresh basil leaves from my garden, some dry rosemary, some tomatoes that needed to be used and a can of tomatoes I was all set. Normally I would use tomato puree, but I didn't have any, and I'd bought quite a few cheap cans of tomatoes from Foodies.
Now that I'd sorted out what I would do with half the Eggplant, I decided to try something I'd never made before, but had tasted once and really loved.
BABA GHANOUSH.
This is a middle eastern eggplant dip.
This is the recipe I used:
4 medium sized Eggplant
¼ cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- cut Eggplants in half, brush with olive oil and roast in a 180°C oven, for about an hour, until tender when a knife is inserted.
- blitz together with an immersion blender or in a food processor until you are happy with the consistency. Should be creamy and silky. If too thick you can add more olive oil.
It's fantastic on toast. Very tasty.
If you serve it as a dip, in a bowl, you can decorate it with chopped nuts, ground cumin and sesame seeds, black pepper, some paprika and a drizzle of olive or sesame oil. And some chopped coriander leaves.
This recipe makes a lot, so I've frozen quite a bit in separate containers.
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