While living in Korea, I was pretty limited with ingredients.  This meant that I wasn’t very able to make some of my favorite dishes and dips- I love dips.  However, I had a massive craving for baba ganoush one time and decided to say, “Screw it. I’ll try without the tahini”.  I made a batch for a poker party being hosted at my friend’s house and hardly even got to eat any, as it was devoured about 5 seconds after it hit the table.  Turns out, tahini (although delicious) isn’t completely necessary for creating a delicious baba ganoush.  Try it for your next party…or your next snack. Enjoy!

Prep time: 10 minutes to preheat the oven

Cook time: 20 minutes to roast, 2 minutes to blend

Ingredients:

  • 4 large purple eggplants
  • 1.5 freshly squeezed lemons
  • 5 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 large tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • dash of salt

Method:

Wash the eggplants and pierce them several times on one side with a fork.

You have two options for roasting the eggplant: in an oven or directly over a flame.  If you choose to use the oven, begin by preheating it to 375 Fahrenheit.  Allow the eggplants to roast for 10 minutes, rotate them, and leave for 10 minutes.

If you are using a gas flame or fire, roast the eggplant for about 6 minutes on each side, rotating for even roasting.

In both cases, you want the eggplant to be blackened after the 20 minutes.  This will allow you to easily split it, pull off the skins, and scoop out the inside with a spoon.  The insides should be thoroughly cooked and, for lack of a better word, mushy.  It will make blending easier and makes for much stronger flavor.  Allow the eggplants to cool off for a few minutes before you gut them.

Meanwhile, juice the lemons, chop the parsley, and mince the garlic.  Add the eggplants to a mixing bowl along with the lemon juice, oil, garlic, and salt.  Using a hand blender on low-medium, blend the ingredients for a minute to a minute and a half.  Add the parsley and blend until smooth (another 10 to 20 seconds).

Serve at room temperature with pita chips or maneesh.

Yields 3.5-4 full cups