I find it interesting that in all our eggplant recipes, we don’t have one for baba ghanoush. Well, that’s what I’m making from the eggplants in the box. Truth be told, it’s one of the few ways my husband will eat eggplant.
This one is from “Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London’s Ottolenghi” by Yotam Ottelenghi and actually uses squash. I’m going to use up the squash from today’s box, but augment it with eggplant. This is a pretty fancy version, but worth knowing about.
Ingredients:
About 3 pounds of squash and eggplant 1/3 cup yogurt 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese 1 egg, lightly beaten 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 1/2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts Pinch red chile flakes 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 clove garlic, crushed 1/2 teaspoon za’atar, for garnish Salt and black pepper
Preparation:
Preheat the broiler. Place the squash and eggplant on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and broil for about 45 minutes, turning once or twice during the cooking, until the skin crisps and browns nicely. Depending on size, it will be done at different times.
Remove from the oven and, once cool enough to handle, peel off the eggplant skin, discard it and set the flesh aside in a colander to drain; you can also scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Let the flesh cool to room temperature.
Put the yogurt in a small saucepan with the blue cheese and egg. Heat very gently for about 3 minutes, stirring often. You want the yogurt to heat through but not quite reach the simmering point. Set aside and keep warm.
Melt the butter in a small sauté pan with the pine nuts over low heat and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the nuts turn golden brown. Stir in the chile flakes and lemon juice and set aside.
To serve, put the squash/eggplant mixture in a bowl and add the garlic, a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt and a good grind of black pepper. Gently mash everything together with a fork and then spread the mixture out on a large serving platter. Spoon the warm yogurt sauce on top, followed by a drizzle of the warm chile butter and the pine nuts. Finish with a sprinkle of za’atar and serve at once.