Looking through some eggplant recipes, I was intrigued by one claiming to be the best Baba Ghanoush ever, so I gave it a test. Interestingly, you’ll need a salad spinner for this. This made about 2 cups and you have to look at the notes to see if it was the best ever.
Silky Smooth Baba Ghanoush
- 2 medium Italian eggplants (about 2 pounds total)
- 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon, plus more as desired
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- Kosher salt
Grill the eggplants right on hot coals if using charcoal, or, if on a gas grill, put them right on top of the burners (on high heat) for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred all over and tender. Remove from the grill and wrap in aluminum foil. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Unwrap the foil and carefully slit the eggplants lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh with a big spoon and place in the colander part of the salad spinner. Pick out any stray bits of skin.
Make sure the eggplant is evenly distributed in the spinner. Spin carefully until all excess moisture is removed.
Put the remaining eggplant in the work bowl of a food processor with the garlic, lemon juice and tahini. Process until smooth. With the processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil. When the olive oil is well incorporated, stop and taste. Add additional lemon juice and salt as needed.
Serve drizzled with more olive oil and warm pita bread and enjoy!
My verdict:
This was certainly the smoothest, silkiest baba ghanoush I’ve ever had. Running it through the salad spinner got rid of all the seeds and a lot of the moisture — definitely worth doing! Flavor-wise it’s delicious, although not as smoky as I would have thought, but that might have been because I was lazy and just tossed the eggplants on the gas grill and didn’t do charcoal. If you don’t have a grill, you can do them on a baking sheet under a broiler. My husband would have liked a little spice to mix into it, maybe some harissa on top, but I thought the garlic gave it enough heat. What do you think?
