Aubergine Dip Recipe

Aubergines are an obsession of mine. I just love that unctuously soft flesh and especially the rich dips that can be made from it. Forgive the ‘smoked? shortcut. I don’t have the patience to hover over a flame for 20 minutes, so have popped a little smoked paprika in, which goes some way to giving the dip that requisite flavour. Well, we all have our kitchen limitations, don’t we?

Ingredients?

oil, for greasing

2 aubergines

1 garlic clove

? teaspoon sea salt

30ml extra virgin olive oil, plus

extra for drizzling

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

50g tahini

30g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly

chopped, plus extra to garnish

salt and freshly ground

black pepper

toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180?C/gas mark 4. Oil a baking sheet.

2 Slice the aubergines lengthways and place them on the baking sheet. Bake

for 30?40 minutes until the flesh is soft, turning them over halfway through.

3 Cover and cool completely before scooping out the flesh. Chop thoroughly

with a knife and then mash with a fork, ensuring there are no lumps.

4 Pound the garlic and sea salt together using a pestle and mortar.

5 Place the aubergine flesh in a bowl along with the crushed garlic, extra

virgin olive oil, lemon juice and smoked paprika. Mix thoroughly before

stirring in the tahini and parsley.

6 Season to taste and serve topped with a generous drizzle of extra virgin oil,

a little more parsley and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. This is lovely

served with crispbreads, pitta, crudit’s or as a spread in sandwiches.

You can find this recipe and more in Keep it Vegan by ?ine Carlin. Published by Kyle Books, priced from €22.55. Photography by Ali Allen.