This is such a silky, wonderfully flavored version of baba ganoush! It's perfect for any party spread with pita and crisp vegetables.
- 2 small eggplant
- salt as needed
- 1 whole lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 1/3 cup olive oil plus more as needed
- 5 cloves roasted garlic mashed into paste. make ahead, see note*
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 pinches crushed red pepper
- 1 pinch paprika
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Pre-heat the oven to 425F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper so there is no sticking. Cut each eggplant in half, and drizzle each half generously with olive oil on the cut side. Sprinkle the cut sides with salt generously as well, then line them up cut side down on the sheet tray. Let them roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the skin is really shriveled and they almost looked collapsed. Let them cool enough to handle.
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Scoop the eggplant out of the skin into a bowl. Season it with more salt, the cumin, and crushed red pepper to taste. Stir in the lemon juice, tahini and roasted garlic, using a fork to mash it all together well. Then use a spoon to stir while slowly pouring in the 1/3 cup of olive oil. This will emulsify it into creamy gorgeousness. Transfer it to a pretty bowl and drizzle a little olive oil on top, along with a generous pinch of paprika. Serve with warm pita, pita chips, crisp veggies, you name it!
*to roast garlic, pre-heat the oven to 400. Remove the outer paper layers of a head of garlic and cut the top tip off to reveal the cloves inside. Dizzle the top with a little olive oil, then wrap it in foil and roast it in the oven for an hour. Perfection, it has so many uses! It can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks, I made it a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving cooking and used it in all of my recipes.