Baba Ganoush

...and back to the Middle East. And back to our eggplants.

There is not only hummus when you think of dips from the Arab or Middle East. Among the many wonderful recipes, baba ganoush also has a firm place in the kitchen of the levante.

Use the oven instead of the stove

I hated eggplants when I was a kid. Maybe it was because my grandmother cooked whole eggplants on the stove and the smell of burnt eggplant skin polluted the whole apartment.

The smell of burnt aubergines haunted me for years

But I learned to appreciate Baba Ghanush - like many other things - during my trips to the Middle East. Unlike its Eastern European or Romanian counterpart "salata de vinete", Baba has a creamier taste and is perfect as a salad or dip with an oriental meal or BBQ.

Try it with pita bread or fresh wheat bread.

Ingredients

2 aubergines, approx. 500g

3 tablespoons sesame paste (tahini)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil, best quality

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper, from the mill

½ bunch of parsley, chopped

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 220 °C and wash the aubergines.

Cut the aubergines in half and carve the flesh with a knife. Sprinkle the aubergine halves with some olive oil and sprinkle some salt on the halves.

Place the aubergines on a baking tray with the meat side up (use baking paper) and put it in the oven.

Bake the aubergines until they are very soft, this takes about 30 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool down a little.

Remove the soft flesh from the skin with a spoon. Then mix the pulp together with the sesame paste, lemon juice and olive oil in a blender.

Peel the garlic, press it through the garlic press and add it to the aubergine puree, then season with salt and pepper.

Chop the parsley leaves and sprinkle on the Baba Ghanoush just before serving.