ISRAELI- STYLE WHOLE ROASTED EGGPLANT
with Tahini Drizzle
BEST FOR
WHOLE ROASTED EGGPLANT
After coming back from a trip to Israel, I couldn’t get Eyal Shani’s delicious whole roasted eggplant from Port Said out of my head. Its smoky flavor paired perfectly with the earthy eggplant and smooth tahini.
Drawing inspiration from this iconic dish that we could only find in Tel Aviv, Israel, I recreated it (successfully)- using easy-to-access ingredients and options for alterations.
Enjoy it open-faced, dressed, or as a deconstructed babaganoush (serve with chips and veggies).
Be'te-avon!
INGREDIENTS
-
Eggplant
-
1 medium eggplant
-
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus extra for garnish)
-
-
Tahini Sauce (makes 1 cup)
-
½ cup tahini paste
-
¼ cup cold water
-
Juice of ½ lemon
-
½ tsp. salt
-
½ tsp. garlic powder
-
¼ tsp cumin
-
-
Garnish (optional- experiment with what you like!)
-
Homemade tahini sauce
-
¼ cup chickpeas
-
¼ cup cucumber (chopped)
-
¼ cup tomato (chopped)
-
1 tsp olive oil
-
salt + pepper (to taste)
-
fresh chopped parsley
-
1 tbsp za’atar
-
DIRECTIONS
-
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
-
Char the skin of the eggplant over an open flame on the burner or on a charcoal barbecue before roasting in the oven; (this extracts the maximum flavor from the eggplant)
-
Bake in the oven until softened, roughly 30-40 minutes (flipping over once after ten min through)
-
Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes and tahini sauce.
-
In one bowl combine the chopped vegetables for garnish “salad”
-
In another bowl, combine tahini, cold water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, za’atar, cumin, chili flakes together- whipping until smooth and creamy. Adjust any seasoning to taste.
-
Once the eggplant is done, remove it from the oven, and slice it halfway through to split open the top part of the skin only (leaving the back intact) and exposing the inside.
-
To compose, top the open-faced eggplant with your garnish “salad”/ toppings and generous drizzle of tahini sauce.
-
Serve hot!
