Baba Ghanouj

Name: Baba Ghanouj (Middle Eastern Eggplant Puree With Tahini)
Yield: Makes about 2½ cups puree
Cuisine: Asia
Ingredients: Pita breads (see Note) or cucumber strips, radishes, green onions, and carrot strips for serving; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish; ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted; ¼ cup (or to taste) fresh lemon juice; ¼ cup sesame tahini, stirred well; 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water if needed; Salt; 2 large or 3 medium eggplants; 2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil; 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced

Middle Eastern Eggplant Puree With Tahini

Preparation info

Makes about
2½ cups
puree

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Mediterranean Kitchen

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 1998

About

This Middle Eastern puree is voluptuous and silky in texture because of the tahini. To borrow a wine term from my son the sommelier, it has “mouth feel.” While you can make a meal of this slathered on warm pita bread, for a little snack try baba ghanouj with crisp fresh vegetables; they are a good contrast to its smoky richness.

Ingredients

2 large or 3 medium eggplants
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Preheat the broiler or heat a heavy griddle over medium heat.

Broil the eggplants or grill on the griddle, turning frequently, until charred all over and very soft, about 20 minutes under the broiler or 10 to 15 minutes on the griddle. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Carefully remove the skin, making sure none of the charred skin gets into the eggplant pulp, and drain them in a s