What is Baba Ganoush?
Baba ganoush (also called baba ghanouj) is a creamy, smoky, and healthy eggplant-based dip. Baba ganoush literally translates to “spoiled father”. Essentially, imagine your standard hummus but this time, substitute roasted eggplant for the garbanzo beans and voila! You have baba ganoush. While it sounds fancy, it’s actually really fun and easy to make.
Baba Ganoush Components
As mentioned, the main ingredient in baba ganoush is EGGPLANT. In this case, the eggplant is slow roasted in the oven to caramelize the flavors from the vegetable pulp. While I am typically not a fan of eggplant (I hate the contrasting texture of thick and hard skin with soft and mushy pulp), this is one eggplant dish that I tolerate (and actually enjoy!). That’s because this recipe only uses the flesh, yielding a nice and homogenous consistency. And it’s a nice way to sneak vegetables into your meal.
Other key ingredients that give this amazing spread its amazing taste and aromaticity are tahini (similar to hummus!), lemon, paprika, and cumin. A key step that I did to make it extra-garlicky was to make garlic confit. This is a process that involves cooking whole garlic cloves at low temp submerged in oil for awhile. It makes for a well-rounded aromatic garlic taste-smell. And a pro-tip is to not throw away the extra garlic. Instead, save it and use it for all your other garlic recipes like Creamy Garlic Salmon Florentine or Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Veggies.
Origins of Baba Ganoush
This delicious recipe is made around the world but originates in the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern area (or more specifically, Lebanon). However, there are variants of this dish served in other countries:
In France, they make caviar d’aubergines.
In Armenia, they make mutabal.
In Ethiopia, they make blagadoush.
No matter where it’s served, it’s sure to be delicious.
How to eat this Lebanese spread
There’s no wrong way to eat it! I served mine with pita bread and fresh veggies (carrots and bell peppers). However, you’re the boss of your sauce! You can even just eat it plain with nothing but a spoon.
Anyway, let us know what you think of this recipe by commenting below. Are you a fan of baba ganoush or do you prefer to stick with hummus. Either way, it’s definitely worth a try in our opinions 🙂
Roasted Baba Ganoush with Garlic Confit
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 2 cups olive oil
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 lemon
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp mint julienne
- A few sprigs of thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the eggplants in half, lengthwise. Rub the cut-ends with some olive oil and place, cut-side-down, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Cook in oven for 40-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare garlic confit by adding 2 cups olive oil to a small pot with the garlic cloves and thyme. Simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Reserve the oil from this process for later in this recipe (you can also use it in other recipes later!).
- When the eggplants are done, remove from oven and turn them over, remove the burnt layer, and scoop out all of the remaining flesh with a spoon (you can discard the skin), placing it into a bowl.
- To the eggplant, add tahini, the zest and juice from a lemon, cumin, paprika, salt/pepper, and however much garlic you prefer (can range from a few cloves to all of them, depending on how garlicky you prefer it).
- Use either an immersion blender (which is what we used) or a food processor to blend until smooth, adding a few spoonfuls of the garlic oil to even the consistency.
- Plate in a bowl, top with extra olive oil, a pinch of paprika, and mint. You can serve with pita bread and/or fresh vegetables for dipping.
Recommended Amazon Products for this Recipe:
This page may contain Amazon Affiliate links that earn us a small commission, at no additional cost to you. We only show products we personally use in our kitchen. See our disclaimer for more information.
2 thoughts on “Roasted Baba Ganoush with Garlic Confit”