Author Notes
This is my family's recipe for babaganoush. My family is Lebanese and I've grown up eating this dish. Everyone has their own variations and this is ours. I recently learned a twist by adding pomegranate to the top of the dish to give it a burst of flavor and color. I recommend eating it with warm pita bread or homemade/store-bought pita chips. —Eat Our Blog
Ingredients
-
2
medium eggplants
-
3-4 tablespoons
tahini
-
1-2 teaspoons
salt (to taste)
-
2
lemons
-
3
cloves garlic
-
1/4 cup
fresh pomegranate seeds
-
1 tablespoon
olive oil
Directions
-
Preheat a gas/charcoal grill on medium-high heat (you can use a grill pan if you don't have a grill)
-
Pierce each eggplant at least 10 times all over to prevent it from exploding on the grill
-
Place the eggplant on the grill for about 20 minutes (turning every five minutes so that all sides are grilled)
-
The eggplant is done when all sides appear to be flat and mushy. Continue to a cook for a few more minutes if it is not completely cooked after 20 minutes.
-
Pull the eggplant off the grill with tongs and run under cold water.
-
Once cool enough, hold by the stem and use either your fingers or tongs to peel the skin off of the eggplant. Then cut the stem off and scoop out about half of the seeds.
-
In a large bowl, place the garlic cloves and salt at the bottom and mash together really well using a pestle.
-
Add in the eggplant, and continue to mash with the pestle
-
Once the eggplant, garlic, and salt are well mashed, mix in the juice of the lemons first to keep the eggplant from turning black. Then mix in the tahini.
-
At this point, you may need to add a little salt. Taste it first and if it needs more salt, add another pinch or so.
-
Pour the mixture onto a platter, top with the olive oil, and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds all over the top.
-
Enjoy this dish with pita bread, pita chips, or raw veggies (carrots, radishes, celery, cucumber, etc).
See what other Food52ers are saying.