Simple Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush is one of my all time favorite snacks, sorry hummus! Every time I make this super simple recipe I wonder why I don’t make it more. Smokey, creamy, savory, garlicky, and spicy, this Baba Ganoush is a great snack to set up for company or to bring to a friends house. 

This recipe might differ from others because I split the eggplant in half and roast them flat side down. Many recipes will call for you to bake the eggplant whole, that’s a perfectly great way to go about making baba ganoush, and you’ll end up with a little lighter (color and flavor) dip. Here at Yumsizzle though….GIMME ALL DA FLAVOR!! 

Don’t get me wrong, we still get a soft, fluffy, light baba ganoush, but by roasting the eggplant in halves we can develop a deeper flavor profile. Every little bit of browning that happens is going to add to the smokiness and sweetness of the dish, deeeeelish. This adds a depth of flavor other baba ganoush is missing.  

The Eggplant

So, to get this recipe started we rinse the eggplant, then cut them in half keeping the the heads on. I keep the heads on because we want to retain as much moisture at this point as possible, more holes means more steam escaping, means a less luxurious baba ganoush. We’ll work to get that extra liquid out later, but for now we want to keep it in. Place the halved eggplants onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and drizzle the flat side with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Flip those bad boys over, and pop them in the pre-heated oven at 450 degrees and don’t even think about touching them for 30 minutes.

Prep While You Wait

Pat yourself on the back, pour a glass of wine, do some dishes, and measure out them spices! We’re going to keep things super simple here but you can feel free to experiment. Something missing from this recipe is fresh Parsley (thanks Coronavirus….) and a nice handful of chopped parsley really rounds out the baba ganoush. In a small dish combine the salt, cayenne (use less if you don’t want spicy, this amount gives it a kick!), and cumin (you could also use some fresh ground pepper to taste later on).

While the eggplant is roasting this is also a great time to prepare the garlic. You have the option of finely mincing the garlic or turning it into a paste. Minced will produce less raw garlic flavor, and the paste will be a strong garlic flavor, it’s up to you. I LOVE the flavor and spice of garlic so I opted for the paste. If you’re super garlic sensitive you could opt for roasted garlic which will be a sweeter smokier flavor. 

To paste the garlic – finely mince a clove and sprinkle it with a little salt on your cutting board. Using the flat of your knife drag your knife over the pile garlic shmushing and grinding it as you go. Repeat this process until a rough paste is formed.

Let It Cool

When the eggplant is nice and browned on the underside, and essentially collapses in on itself with a little pressure on the skin side it’s ready to come out of the oven (should be about 30mins). Take it out and let it cool for 10 minutes, this will protect your hands, and also gives the eggplant some extra time to steam on the inside, which will give us a better texture and make it easier for us to separate the meat from the skin.

Scoop It

After letting it rest, take a spoon, and holding the top of the eggplant scoop out the meat trying to leave the skin intact. You’ll want to scoop this out directly into a colander that is sitting on top of a bowl. Repeat this step for all of the eggplant. If you have any large clusters of seeds in your eggplants try and remove them from the colander, the seeds add a bit of bitterness to the final baba ganoush. It’s not the end of the world if there’s a couple of seeds in there so don’t kill yourself trying to get them out. 

PRO TIP: Look for male eggplants in the store, they are the ones with a small round dimple on the bottom as opposed to a larger oval dimple. The female eggplants have wayyyy more seeds.

Drain It

Aside from roasting the eggplant as halves the other trick in this recipe is to get out as much liquid as possible. After scooping out the meat from the eggplants I let them sit in the colander for 5-10 minutes and drain, you’ll be surprised at how much liquid will drip out. You might want to use this liquid later so hold onto it for now.

Mix It

Move the baba ganoush from the colander to a bowl and start mushing it with a fork. It will seem stringy and not cohesive at first, but after a minute or two of whisking, mushing, and stirring with the fork it will turn into a nice chunky paste. Add in the spices (salt, cayenne, cumin), tahini, greek yogurt, garlic, and lemon juice. Mix it all together and give it a taste to correct any glaring errors. The flavor of baba ganoush needs time to sit before it fully develops. In the past I’ve ended up over salting or adding in too much lemon juice because I was impatient and didn’t let the mixture rest for 3-4 hours before the final tasting and seasoning.

Eat It!

Once everything is mixed up cover it and place the baba ganoush in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving. You’ll be rewarded with a silky smokey dip. Enjoy!