I love a good Baba Ganoush as much as the next guy. But sometime I love to get creative with my eggplants. And once I visited a Greek restaurant and had the best ever eggplant dip that had flavors of tomato and garlic. I went back home and just had to recreate it. That's how my roasted eggplant dip was born... full of delicious Mediterranean flavors. Eggplant and onions marinated with a perfect mix of tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, garlic, paprika and olive oil, and then baked to perfection and cooled to make the perfect dip! It's a must try. And bonus: super easy to make. Just needs 10 minutes of hands on time.
I love the deep umami flavor of this roasted eggplant dip. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables for just that reason. It has a meaty flavor and can easily replace meat for me in many dishes. I also add really thinly sliced onions so they can melt into the eggplant and provide a delicious sweetness. The sweetness comes out even more because I add in a bit of sugar to balance the tartness of the tomato paste and pomegranate molasses. It's seriously magical (I might get up and make it again as I'm typing about it). Finally you also get the hints of garlic, paprika and chili (and you can add more chili if you like yours hot!).
I typically serve this dip with some pita bread as a side or appetizer for any meal. It goes especially great in a BBQ! I love it served cold, but you can definitely serve it room temperature as well. Just make sure you don't skimp out on the olive oil on top when serving it, and throw on some parsley for colour and some walnuts for a crunch! Your family will love it. Be sure to let me know what you think if you try it! Love hearing back from you guys.
For more eggplant recipes, try these:
Roasted Eggplant Dip
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 onion
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves
Instructions
- Start by washing and peeling your eggplant every other stripe (like a zebra pattern) and cut into small cubes.
- Slice your onions into thin slices.
- Mix together the paprika, chilli powder, salt, sugar, tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and crushed garlic until well combined.
- Marinate the eggplant and onions with the mixture until well combined.
- Place in an oven dish with a lid and bake at 400F for 1 hour.
- Check to ensure eggplant is really soft (may need more time depending on oven). You should be able to mash it really easily with a fork.
- Mash the dip with a fork to create a chunky consistency (or continue mashing for a more smooth paste - per preference).
- Adjust salt to your liking and cool the dip in the fridge.
- Garnish with more olive oil, parsley, walnuts and serve with pita bread. Enjoy!
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