Velvety and full of zesty lemon, this roasted garlic and eggplant dip is a variation of the traditional baba ghanoush. Pair it with any crisp vegetable or with the sourdough cracker recipe I've shared below!
What's in the Dip?
I first found a recipe for healthy baba ghanoush from the Skinnytaste Blog. Hers has raw garlic in it. It's delicious but my daughter had a bite of it and said it was too spicy. So I decided to change it up and add roasted garlic instead.
Ingredients
Eggplant- I had one very large eggplant for this recipe, but if you have two smaller ones that would work as well. If you can only find those long Italian eggplant, I'd suggest getting 3 or 4 of those. You want to end up with about two cups of cooked eggplant.
Tahini- There's lots of great tahini out there. I've bought this one numerous times and its really good. If you don't have tahini but you have some sesame seeds on hand, toast up those bad boys and make tahini! Toast one cup of sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. Stir continuously for about 15 minutes until the sesame seeds are toasted and smell nutty. Add the sesame seeds to a food processor and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Process that for 1-2 minutes until a thick paste is formed. You can keep that tahini in the refrigerator for about two weeks.
Roasted Garlic- Roasted garlic is really easy to make. You can use roasted garlic for just about anything! My dad used to add it to mashed potatoes and it was really delicious! The pungent garlic flavor disappears and the garlic becomes almost buttery. Spread it on crostini for a delicious and very easy appetizer.
Let's Make this Dip
Take a head of garlic, cut it in half crosswise so the garlic cloves are cut in half. Place the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Enclose the garlic in the aluminum foil and place in an oil a 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Place the eggplant on a baking sheet under the broiler for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and let it sit for 30 minutes to continue cooking as it cools.
When the eggplant is cooked, carefully peel the skin off and discard it. Place the eggplant meat into a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and process for 30 seconds.
You can eat the dip immediately, but the flavors will intensify as it sits in the refrigerator. It will last for about 1 week in the refrigerator.
Sourdough Crackers
This recipe is based off the King Arthur Sourdough Cracker recipe here. They used butter and I decided to use coconut oil. I also added everything bagel seasoning instead of any dried herbs. There are many variations of these crackers. I've made them before with the dough recipe and then added a teaspoon of ground pepper and a tablespoon of chia seeds. I've added sundried tomatoes. The possibilities are endless!
How to Make the Crackers
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together. The dough will come together and be just a little sticky. Divide the dough in half and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, but up to a few hours. After the dough has rested, take out one half and roll it on a piece of parchment paper with a little flour. Roll the dough as thin as you can get it, about 1/16th of an inch. Place the parchment paper or a silicone mat and dough on a baking sheet. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil and then sprinkle with course sea salt. Then, cut the dough into cracker shapes. I used a pizza cutter and cut them into squares. If you have a pie dough cutter you could use that as well to make them a little more fancy.
Once you have cut all the crackers, use a fork to prick the center of each cracker. This prevents the dough from rising too much and puffing the crackers. Bake the crackers in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet halfway through the cooking process.
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Roasted Eggplant Dip with Sourdough Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 large Eggplant
- 1 Head Garlic
- 3 Tbsp Tahini
- 2 Lemons, juiced
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
Sourdough Crackers
- ½ cup All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Sourdough Starter Discard, Unfed
- 4 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 Tbsp Everything Bagel Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the garlic head crosswise along the middle of the garlic head. Place the head on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with a little olive oil and salt. Enclose the garlic in the aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Take it out and allow it to cool.
- When the garlic is done, turn the broiler on. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and broil the eggplant for 20 minutes, turning the eggplant halfway through. After the 20 minutes is up, leave the eggplant in the oven but turn off the broiler. Let it sit for another 20 minutes.
- In the bowl of a food processor, peel the eggplant and place the meat into the bowl. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the processor. To get the garlic out of the head, squeeze the skins of the garlic and it should come right out into the bowl of the food processor. Process for 30 seconds until everything is smooth. Taste the dip and adjust seasonings to your taste. Serve immediately or refrigerator to intensify the flavor.
To Make the Sourdough Crackers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place all the ingredients for the crackers in a bowl and mix. The dough will come together and be slightly tacky.
- Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator and allow the dough to rest for at least one hour, but it can stay in the refrigerator overnight if needed.
- Take one half of the dough out at a time and roll it on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper or silicone mat. Lightly flour your rolling pin and the dough as well. Roll the dough very thin, about 1/16th of an inch. Add a little extra flour if needed.
- When the dough is rolled out, brush it lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with course sea salt.
- Cut the dough into crackers in your shape preference. Prick the center of each cracker to prevent puffing.
- Bake the crackers for 20-25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking process. When the crackers are browned, allow them to cool before placing them in an air tight container.
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