Homemade Baba Ganoush

I have been really missing eating out at all of the great restaurants in DC, so I was inspired by one of my favorite places, Zaytinya, to make Baba Ganoush! Baba Ganoush is basically a roasted eggplant hummus. Of course this is not an authentic dish, but it definitely did the trick when I was craving Zaytinya! 

Serves 3 to 4 

Ingredients: 

1 medium to large Eggplant

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 cloves of Garlic, minced 

2 spoonfuls of Tahini

Large handful of Parsley

Pomegranate Seeds

Salt

Olive Oil 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Slice eggplant into ½ inch rounds and place on a baking sheet. Generously coat with olive oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the eggplant begins to roast and become golden brown. Sometimes if I am impatient I will turn the oven to broil towards the end to speed up the process. You do want to make sure that the eggplant has become tender though. 

3. After the eggplant has roasted I add the eggplant (skin on), lemon juice, garlic, tahini, parsley, a large pinch of salt and about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a food processor and blend the mixture for about 2 minutes. I choose to keep the eggplant skin on because I personally like it, but you can definitely remove it. 

4. After the eggplant has blended for 2 minutes I taste it to see if there is enough salt and olive oil. You want a creamy mixture similar to hummus so add olive oil accordingly. Continue to blend the mixture until it has a smooth and creamy texture. 

5. Once the desired consistency has been reached I top the Baba Ganoush with parsley and pomegranate seeds. This dip goes great with pita bread, vegetables and kabobs! Enjoy!