We have a lot of eggplants in our garden at the moment and I’ve been relentlessly cooking/trialling/eating this delicious starter - such hard work! It’s so simple, fresh and rewarding, I promise you won’t look at a packet baba ganoush dip the same way again. Most of the ingredients you probably already have! Using a good quality olive oil like Golden Groves is key to getting a flavour that shines.
Baba Ganoush
Ingredients
- 3 medium eggplant (around 1.3kg)
- 100g tahini
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp/15g olive oil
- 1-2tbsp (15-30g) lemon juice (depending on freshness and acidity)
- Salt flakes
- 30g butter (optional, for brown butter topping)
- Olive oil drizzled, grilled Turkish bread, to serve
Method
- Using a knife, puncture holes all over your eggplants to allow steam to escape.
- Grill eggplant on a barbecue, griddle pan or under an oven broiler until the skin is blackened and eggplants and very soft. For a smokey flavour, the barbecue is the best option (and if it’s set up, you can use it to char the bread later on).
- Transfer eggplants to a bowl, cover tightly with glad wrap and set aside to steam for 15 minutes.
- Peel eggplants, discarding the skin. Chop the flesh into slices around 1cm wide (or slightly less).
- Place the flesh in a strainer over a bowl or the sink, and set aside for at least 15 minutes to allow any liquid to drain out.
- Add eggplant to a bowl with tahini, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt flakes and stir until well combined. Taste and season, adding more salt and lemon juice as needed (I like my baba ganoush bright and acidic).
- In a saucepan, melt butter and sizzle until it browns, then pour into a bowl.
- Spoon baba ganoush into a serving bowl.
- Drizzle a generous spoon of brown butter over baba ganoush, and serve alongside grilled Turkish bread.