Baba Ganoush with Roast Garlic

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Smooth, creamy and silky yet light and healthy, this full flavoured, vegan moreish smoky dip is loaded with aubergine/egg plant, tahini and roast garlic and finished with olive oil, pine nuts and coriander. Similar to hummus but made with cooked aubergine instead of chickpeas, this Middle Eastern classic can be used as a dip or a spread and is delicious served with pitta bread and vegetables.

Baba Ganoush is characterised by its smoky flavour; traditionally this comes from grilling the aubergine over a naked flame. This is not always possible though, so this recipe is weatherproof and I have cooked the aubergine in the oven instead. I have created the smoky flavour by cranking the oven up to very high at the end of cooking and cooking the cut side of the aubergine face down on the hot metal tray to encourage charring and hence that delicious smoky flavour.

Also, if you can possibly find smoked garlic and smoked salt, these will both help to add that classic smoky flavour. If you cant find them, don’t worry, I have made it many times without. Adding some smoked paprika either in the mix or sprinkled on top when serving, is another excellent way of adding some delicious smokiness.

How to make Baba Ganoush with Roast Garlic

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the aubergines:

• 2 x medium aubergine/eggplant
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes, ideally smoked
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Roast Garlic Confit:

• 1 bulb of garlic, ideally smoked
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• pinch of sea salt, ideally smoked
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Remaining ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of tahini
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (roughly 1 lemon)
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes, ideally smoked

Garnish suggestions:

• Olive oil to drizzle
• Toasted pine nuts
• Smoked paprika
• Chopped fresh parsley or coriander

Serving options:

• Pitta bread
• Vegetable sticks: carrot, celery, pepper/capsicum, cucumber, radish, tomatoes

How to make this incredible smokey dip:

First cook the aubergine and garlic:

1. Slice the top quarter off a whole bulb of garlic. Put in the centre of a piece of foil.
2. Loosely gather the foil around the garlic, pour over 1 teaspoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Seal the foil around the top of the garlic.
3. Slice the aubergines in half lengthwise.
4. Rub the cut side of each half of aubergine with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Place cut side down on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Add the garlic in foil and cook in a preheated oven for 35 minutes.
6. After 35 minutes, remove the garlic from the oven, turn the oven up and cook for a further 10 minutes. This will char the aubergine and help provide a smokey flavour to the baba ganoush.
7. Take out of the oven and leave to cool. The cut side should look dark and charred.
8. Scoop all the aubergine flesh from the charred skin, including the charred cut side but not the skin.
9. Squeeze confit cloves out of the bulb.
10. Place the aubergine, garlic confit and all remaining ingredients into the food processor.
11. Blitz until smooth or desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
12. Serve: garnish with your choice of garnishes and serve with pitta bread and sticks of vegetables.

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Serve:

To serve – drizzle with olive oil and add your choice of garnishes. Serve with pitta bread and a selection of vegetable sticks.

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Made this recipe?

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