A Dish You Can't Make Just Once

Passport & Plate - Eggplant Dip

USA | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 3 photos

Ingredients
2 medium-sized eggplants
2 Tb. olive oil, plus a little more for brushing/drizzling
1½ Tb. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed (this might be a touch too much if you’re not a huge garlic fan)
½ tsp. each salt, cumin, coriander, paprika
A little bit more salt & coriander (maybe an extra ¼ tsp? Or just put in a heaping ½ tsp. to begin with)
Pita bread/pretzels/veggies for dipping

 

How to prepare this recipe
Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut the eggplants in half length-wise and brush the cut sides with olive oil.

Place the eggplant halves on a cooking sheet, cut sides up, and cook until they are easily pierced with a fork. (In my oven from 1964, this takes about an hour, but a modern oven should accomplish the task more quickly!)

Let the eggplants cool, then scrape the flesh out with a spoon and place in a blender.

Add the lemon juice and 2 Tb. of olive oil, and blend until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely incorporated.

Pour the mixture into a serving dish, drizzle a bit more olive oil over the top, if you like, and serve with dipping tool of choice (pita bread/pretzels/veggies – my favorite is pretzels!).

 

The story behind this recipe
Last year, I bought an eggplant at my local market without having any idea how to cook it (I believe I made an eggplant soufflé once 15 years ago, but haven’t worked with the ingredient since). I found a recipe for eggplant dip online, started playing around with it, and came up with this version. I’ve now become a little addicted.

This pretty much sums up my cooking style – see something that looks good and try to make it myself. I like trying new recipes and rarely make the same thing twice (my dinner parties are always a bit nerve-wracking!). I should work on that.

This recipe is special to me because it is one of the few that I make regularly -- because it tastes so good! I had to figure out how to document what I was doing in the kitchen so that I could pass along the recipe when my friends asked. My usual style of cooking (add as much stuff as looks right) wasn't sufficient; therefore, I experimented with actually measuring the ingredients and developed my own recipe.