SMOKY AND CREAMY BABA GHANOUSH

Directions

1. First of all, we need to prepare the aubergines. You need to smoke the aubergines over the open flame. This might sound a little bit tricky but in fact it is very easy. Place the aubergine (one at a time) over the moderate flames of your hob head. Use metal kitchen tongs to turn it over quite frequently for even smoking. The skin will start burning and the flesh will become piping hot and soft. It takes roughly 10-15 min to smoke one aubergine. Make sure the aubergine doesn’t catch fire. It will get a little messy so I recommend to line the space around the hob head with foil. Set the aubergines aside to cool down.
2. As the aubergines cooled down cut them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Don’t worry if some burned skin gets in. Cut the flesh into smaller pieces with a knife and place in a large bowl. You can also put it in a blender and give it a quick whizz. However, I personally don’t like smooth baba ghanoush and prefer the rustic texture.
3. Smoke the garlic the same way you smoked the aubergines. Hence we kept the skins on. Garlic smokes much faster so it will probably take about 3-5 min. Don’t be afraid to burn it a little.
4. Peel the burned skin of the smoked garlic and chop very finely. Add to the aubergines.
5. Now add tahini and olive oil and juice of a lemon. Mix well.
6. Add salt and pepper, mix well and top it up with some pomegranate seeds.
7. Serve with warm flatbreads.