I've been really, really enjoying eggplant dip lately. I wouldn't call myself an eggplant lover, or even a fan, but I could eat a bowl of this perfect, smooth and creamy dip with a whole baguette...to myself.
I had this dip for the first time in the back yard of my friend Tom's house. His Dad's Romanian friend whipped this up one summer afternoon and equated it to his country's interpretation of guacamole. It's simple, dead easy to make, impressive at parties and impressive to yourself.
All you do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees, cut a large eggplant in half, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until it's soft, about twenty minutes.
Let it sit for ten minutes before scooping out the soft flesh and putting it into a blender. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, two cloves of garlic, juice of one lime or lemon, and salt and pepper. Whiz up until smooth.
This dip is delicious with crusty bread, baguette, sourdough, chips, you name it. Make it fancy with a garnish of parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and stud it with a couple of olives. Grill a piece of fish and make a simple tomato and red onion salad with oil and red wine vinegar dressing - serve the perfect dip on the side.
Let me know how you like it. Just please, make it. You'll be enchanted.
Nice idea...
ReplyDeleteI make Ratatouille like my grandmother used to make...Easy and delicious and uses whatever you have.
Here goes: 1 egg plant raw, cut in 1/4 inch thicknesses.
4-6 garlic toes minced and set aside
1 thinly sliced carrot,
2-4 zucchinni thin sliced
Fresh herb of choice (basil is good, so is tarragon or thyme---
Fresh cooking type tomatoes sliced.
Now, layer in a large casserole starting with egg plant, salt & Pepper, garlic between each layer, end with tomatoes and sprinkle a little parmesan and a touch of olive oil on the top.
cover and cook on top of the stove for 1.5 hours on very low. Delicious warm or cold. Another meal made out of left overs either as omlette or pizza---
You can use almost any veggie--stay away from the "stinky" cruciferous ones...REally nice with green beans, celery onion--vary the spices...this is classic French cooking from the countryside and delicius with most everything.
allison