Baba Ganoush (also spelled baba ghanoush or baba ghanouj) is a Mediterranean dip made from grilled eggplant, tahini, and olive oil. It’s delicious with pita bread, crudites, or as a spread on wraps/sandwiches. I’ve been a huge fan of this dish since my time spent living in Turkey, but I never realized how easy it is to make in my own kitchen!

Ideally you would grill the eggplant over an open flame in order to get a rich, smoky flavor, but baking it in an oven will make do just fine as well! We ate ours for a summertime dinner accompanied with a simple chickpea salad.

And if you ever get tired of hummus (how would that even happen?!), you can make this your new go-to dip/spread/eat-with-a-spoon food!

Ingredients
1 large eggplant, cut in half longways
olive oil
salt
juice and zest from half lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
pita bread for dipping, optional

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use a knife to score the cut sides of eggplant diagonally to create a crisscross pattern (score deeply but don’t cut through the skin). Brush the scored sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place cut side down on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. The eggplant should be very soft and tender. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully scrape the flesh from the eggplant skin and place flesh into a blender. Add lemon juice and zest, garlic, cumin, paprika, tahini, and a generous pinch of salt to the blender and blend until mostly smooth. Pour into a shallow bowl and top with fresh parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Use pita triangles for dipping if desired.

Serves 4