When it comes to easy appetizers this eggplant tahini dip corners the market in flavor and simplicity. It’s creamy and nutty with a little bit of heat from red pepper flakes plus some bite from onion. It’s wonderful spread on bread or as a vegetable dip.
If you’re thinking, “that’s baba ganoush,” you’re right. It’s a variation. And a very tasty one at that. This version is inspired by a recipe called Aubergine Caviar in Ibiza, Land and Sea by Chef Françoise Pialoux. (Use the links or touch the image to purchase.)
Ibiza, famous for its nightlife as well as its food, sits about 100 miles off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. The climate produces an abundance of fresh produce and the sea provides its own bounty. These, in turn, inspire the recipes in Ibiza, Land and Sea.
Aubergines are berenjenas in Spain and eggplant in the United States.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be a guest in Les Terraces and eat all the wonderful food? Alas, I’ll have to settle for making my own.
What I like about the eggplant tahini dip is its flexibility. The original recipe calls for a pound of eggplant and makes two cups, but I adapted it to suit the single eggplant I had on hand. Since there are so few ingredients it’s easy to make a batch to suit your family’s tastes.
If you’re making a large batch, it’s worth your time to use a food processor. For my small batch I used a stick blender and pureed everything in the mixing bowl.
Ingredients
- 1 medium to large eggplant washed, leave the peel on
- 1/2 large onion diced (just eyeball about half the amount of eggplant)
- generous pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 generous tablespoon tahini or more
- juice of a lemon about 2 tablespoons
- salt and pepper to taste cumin and cayenne could also be added
- good quality extra virgin olive oil
- smoky paprika and roasted sesame seeds and fresh or dried chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Roast the eggplant in a hot oven (350F/180C), turning occasionally until the fruit feels soft and the skin is charred in a few places. Allow to cool. Remove the stem and cut the eggplant in half. Remove the flesh from the skin.
- Heat a tablespoon of good quality olive oil and red pepper flakes in a skillet over medium high. Saute the onions for a couple minutes until translucent and soft.
- Transfer the eggplant and onions to a food processor. Add the tahini, salt and pepper and the lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
- Taste and adjust the flavors and by adding more lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper as desired.
- To serve, mound the eggplant tahini dip on a plate and drizzle olive oil over top and around the sides. Garnish with sesame seeds, smoky paprika and parsley.
We served our dip with a homemade flatbread, marcona almonds, assorted olives and a salty feta cheese that we cut into cubes and seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and more red pepper flakes. It was heavenly!
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