Baba Ghanouj Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill.
• Preheat an oven to 375°F.
• Prick the eggplant with a fork in several places and place on the grill rack 4 to 5 inches from the fire.
• Grill, turning frequently, until the skin blackens and blisters and the flesh just begins to feel soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet and bake until very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and peel off and discard the skin.
• Place the eggplant flesh in a bowl.
• Using a fork, mash the eggplant to a paste.
• Add the 1/4 cup tahini, the garlic, the 1/4 cup lemon juice and the cumin and mix well.
• Season with salt, then taste and add more tahini and/or lemon juice, if needed.
• Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and spread with the back of a spoon to form a shallow well.
• Drizzle the olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the parsley.
• Place the olives around the sides.
• Serve at room temperature.

Steps:

• Pierce some holes in the skin of the eggplant (to avoid explosion) and grill over medium-high heat turning every 7 minutes, until the skin is blackened and the body is nice and soft. Total time for grilling is about 30 minutes. If you do not have a grill you can roast your eggplant in a 375 degree F oven for about 30 minutes.
• Remove eggplant from the grill and let cool.
• Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel away the skin and discard. Place the eggplant flesh in a colander and drain for 10 minutes. In a food processor, combine garlic, lemon juice, tahini and parsley and pulse to combine. Add the eggplant flesh. Season with salt and pepper and pulse to combine. Adjust the flavor with more Tahini or lemon juice if you prefer. If it's bitter, some sugar or honey will help. Research shows that the white variety of plant is sweeter in flavor.

Steps:

• Heat the grill to its highest setting. Put the aubergines on a baking sheet and grill for 35-40 mins or until completely softened, blackened and blistered, turning them halfway through with a pair of tongs. Set aside and leave to cool completely.
• Once your aubergines are cool enough to handle, gently peel off the charred skin and discard. Transfer the flesh to the large bowl of a food processor along with 30ml of the oil, the coriander, cumin, tahini, lemon and half the parsley. Season and pulse the flesh three or four times to create a chunky textured dip.
• Transfer the dip to a bowl and drizzle with the remaining oil, scatter over any leftover parsley and serve with warm flatbreads or pitta.

Steps:

• Prepare a hot gas or charcoal grill. Pierce the eggplants in several places with a fork or the tip of a knife, and place over the hot coals. Grill, turning regularly, until soft and blackened all over. If you don't have a grill but do have a gas stove, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover the top of your stove under the burner grates with foil to facilitate cleaning. Turn on your oven fan (so the smoke alarm won't go off), and roast the eggplants directly over the flame, turning often until charred and softened. Small, thin eggplants will cook through this way, but larger eggplants must be finished in the oven. Wrap in foil, and place in the hot oven for 20 minutes until thoroughly softened. You can also roast the eggplant under a broiler until charred and softened. The flavor of the baba ganoush will not be as smoky.
• Place the grilled eggplant in a colander in the sink, and allow to cool and drain. Peel and discard the black skins, cut off the stems, and let the eggplants sit in the colander to drain for another 15 to 30 minutes.
• Puree the eggplant in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the lemon juice, yogurt and tahini. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic to a paste with a generous pinch of salt. Add to the food processor, and blend with the eggplant. Add salt to taste.
• Mound the puree in a bowl or on a platter, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with pita bread.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375F. Cut each eggplant in half vertically and place on sheet pan. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40-45 minutes until very soft.
• Let eggplants cool before handling. Scoop eggplant flesh out of skins into bowl of a food processor. Add lemon juice, tahini, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Serve with pita bread or pita chips.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Arrange oven racks so you have one low and one high in the oven.
• Cut a shallow slit along the side of the eggplant and place into a baking dish.
• Roast in preheated oven on the lower rack until the eggplant is completely shrunken and soft, about 40 minutes. Move dish to higher rack and continue baking until the skin is charred, about 5 minutes more. Let eggplant cool until cool enough to handle.
• Peel and discard skin from eggplant. Put eggplant into a bowl; add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir until ingredients are evenly mixed. Drizzle olive oil over the baba ghanoush and garnish with parsley.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously oil rimmed baking sheet. Place eggplant halves, cut side down, on sheet. Roast until eggplant is very soft, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from eggplant into strainer set over bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, allowing excess liquid to drain from eggplant.
• Transfer eggplant pulp to processor. Add 1/4 cup oil, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic; process until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.) Serve with pita wedges.
• Available at Middle Eastern and natural foods stores and some supermarkets.

Steps:

• Prick the skin of the eggplant and roast it at 400 degrees for 1 hour, or until the eggplant collapses.
• Scoop the flesh out (everything but the skin), and add it to the food processor.
• Add the other ingredients, and pulse until smooth.
• Serve in a pita, or as a dip.
• Note: this can be made without the garbanzos, but I like the flavor and texture they add.
• You can use roasted garlic for a smoother taste - just wrap a head of garlic in aluminum foil and put it in with the eggplant!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise. Place cut side up on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush 1 tablespoon olive oil over cut sides. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and paprika. Bake until dark golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove eggplant from pan to a wire rack to cool., Peel skin from eggplant; discard. Put flesh into a food processor and pulse to mash; transfer to bowl. Stir in tahini, lemon juice, garlic and and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spoon into serving dish. Drizzle with additional olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley and additional paprika.

Steps:

• Preheat broiler or prepare grill.
• Prick eggplants in several places with a fork. On a broiler pan or in a shallow baking pan broil eggplants about 3 to 4 inches from heat, turning every 10 to 15 minutes, 45 to 55 minutes, or until charred all over and very soft. (Alternatively, grill eggplants on a well-oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals in same manner.) Cool eggplants until they can be handled and peel off and discard skin, Transfer pulp to a colander set over a bowl. Let eggplant pulp drain 20 minutes and discard any liquid on bowl.
• In a food processor blend lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt to taste until smooth. Add eggplant pulp and pulse until a coarse purée. Add tahini and sour cream and pulse just until combined well.
• Transfer baba ghanouj to a shallow bowl and drizzle with oil. Serve baba ghanouj with accompaniments.

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Prick the surface of the skin of eggplants several times with the tip of a knife.
• Place eggplants directly on grill. Turn frequently with tongs while skin chars. Cook until eggplants have collapsed and are very soft, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to cool, about 15 minutes.
• When eggplants are cool enough to handle, split them in half and scrape flesh into a colander placed over a bowl. Drain 5 or 10 minutes.
• Transfer eggplant to mixing bowl. Add crushed garlic and salt; mash until creamy but with a little texture, about 5 minutes. Whisk in lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, and cayenne pepper. Stir in yogurt.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, 3 or 4 hours. Taste to adjust seasonings. Stir in mint and parsley.