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Baba Ganoush with Roasted Garlic

Baba Ganoush, cousin of hummus, is a creamy aubergine dip or spread made with tahini. This recipe gives it more depth by using roasted instead of raw garlic and enhances the smokiness with paprika. Serve with flatbread, crudités, pickles, falafel or as part of a Middle East-inspired mezze feast.

Course Breakfast, Snack, Starter
Cuisine Middle Eastern, Vegan
Keyword baba ganoush, aubergine
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

  • 1 head garlic left whole
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large aubergine
  • 70-80 g tahini (sesame paste)
  • 1-2 lemons, juice only
  • 2 tsp ground cumin plus extra for sprinkling
  • 0.5 tsp smoked paprika plus extrafor sprinkling
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Slice off and discard the top centimetre of the head of garlic. Put the base on a small square of baking foil, season it with salt & pepper. Drizzle with 1 tsp of the olive oil. Enclose the garlic in the foil and set aside.

  2. Heat the grill to high and preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7

    Meanwhile, prick the aubergine all over with a fork.

  3. Put the aubergine on a baking tray and place under the grill. Cook until it's blackened all over - you'll need to turn it regularly.

  4. Remove the tray and aubergine from the grill (turn the grill off) and add the foil package of garlic to the tray. Put the tray into the preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes.

  5. Check if the aubergine is very soft. If not, continue cooking.

    Carefully open the foil to check if the garlic is soft and lightly browned. If not, re-wrap and continue cooking.

    When they're done, remove the aubergine and garlic from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.

  6. Using a knife, remove the black skin from the aubergine and discard it. Roughly chop the flesh on a board, then transfer it to the bowl of a food processor or suitable vessel if you're going to use a stick blender.

  7. Squeeze, or scrape out with a teaspoon, the cooked flesh from the papery garlic skins and add it to the aubergine.

  8. Add in 70g of the tahini, the juice of one of the lemons, 1 tbsp of the olive oil, the cumin and smoked paprika. Add a good grind of black pepper and a little salt.

  9. Blend until smooth and then taste. Add more lemon or seasonings if liked. Blend in more tahini if you want to make the Baba Ganoush thicker, a little water to thin it.

  10. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with a little cumin, smoked paprika and the sesame seeds. Drizzle with olive oil.

Recipe Notes

Blackening the aubergine under the grill: you can omit this step, but the flavour won't be as smoky. If you've a gas hob, and you don't mind it getting a bit messy, you could put the aubergine directly on the flame to char instead of grilling it. Alternatively, char the aubergine in a heavy, cast iron griddle.