Babaganoush

I had to make a dip for a party and was going to make hummas but realized that I always make hummas. I haven't made babaganoush in years so I set out to find a recipe that sounded like the one I used that last time I made it. Martha Stewart's sounded pretty bang on so I used it as my base. Instead of one large eggplant, I used two medium sized eggplants and I think the proportions were fine. The only real change I made was to add a handful of chopped parsley because I like a bit of green in there and it's just a little more fresh with parsely. I used to buy this amazing, garlicky eggplant dip from a woman at St Lawrence Market. It was really kind of wet, it was really smokey, it had tomato and no tahini and it was soooooo good. I can't find out what it's called or find a recipe for it so if anyone reading this knows what I am talking about, please take pity on a girl and let me know.

Babaganoush

2 medium or 1 large eggplant
2 cloves of garlic
4 tbls olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tbls tahini
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
handful of italian parsley, chopped

preheat the oven to 424F
Rub the eggplants with 2 tbls of olive oil  and roast until garlic is soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the garlic and set aside and continue to roast the eggplant for another 25 minutes until it starts to split and deflates when you poke it. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for about half an  hour.

Split the eggplants and remove all the inside pulp with a big spoon and put it in a food processor. Peel the garlic and add that as well as the tahini, the lemon juice, 2 tbls olive oil, salt and parsely. Puree until it's smooth.

This stuff tastes best if you make it the day before. In the summer time, I grill the eggplants over hot coals first and then I roast them in the oven and the dip ends up tasting much smokier but since it's winter and I have an electric stove, I just roast them and the dip is still delicious. In fact, some people prefer a milder tasting babaganoush and don't like the intense smokiness that you get from charring the outside first. When you serve it , drizzle it with a bit more oil and you can sprinkle a tiny bit of paprika if you think it needs some colour, but not too much.