Yotam Ottolenghi’s Baba Ghanouj, Deconstructed Recipe (2024)

Be sure to stab the eggplant with a fork in several places before placing it on the flame. That lets the steam out and prevents the eggplant from exploding, which happened to me one time. Fortunately, I was using an outdoor gas grill, and the lid contained most of the explosion, which was formidable, as well as the splattered remains of the vegetable.

in one of his cookbooks yotom suggests baking the PIERCED eggplant in a 450 degree oven for about an hour. necessary to turn it but it will be smoky and delicious. should you not have the grill or open flame option.

The recipe is great. Broiler is perfect for charting eggplants. Put 3 or 4 large eggplants on an aluminum foil lined tray and put it under 6 inch under broiler. Turn broiler on high and cook on all 4 sides for 12 minutes on each side. Total of 48 minutes. They will cook perfectly smoky charred and no mess!

No need to salt and drain eggplant - modern varieties don't have the bitterness that they used to when that suggestion was popular advice.
425f oven, slice the eggplants lengthwise in half, score deeply, brush with oil and salt liberally. the oven should be full, so if you don't have multiple trays, place a roasting pan with water in it which prevents the aubergine from crisping and burning on the edges and allows you to cook it for 45-50 minutes at that temperature.

Forget the oregano. Add some pomegranate grains on the top. Make the eggplant puree in a mortar, add the lemon, salt and the tahini. You can finish it with the pomegranate. Trust me: my grand parents were from Lebanon

The recipe calls for four eggplants but the photo of the finished dish shows five eggplants. Why?

You can use a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan. No oil, and turn the eggplant very frequently with your tongs. I've done this on my gas stove and no reason it wouldn't work with electric.

4 eggplants; 1 tablespoon for each.

Can the eggplants be cut before charring? Otherwise seems near impossible to handle and rotate a whole eggplant over an open flame.

Shouldn't have any trouble turning it with a good set of tongs - that's always worked fine for me. You want to char the skin, then remove it, so the pulp has a nice smoky flavor but is still soft - hard to get that with sliced eggplant.

Absolutely not! I do this all the time - just use tongs and/or your fingers (VERY carefully). If you cut them first you will get a HUGE mess all over the stove. Also, I do not recommend pricking them as someone suggested above; this will also lead to a big mess and I have never ever had any eggplants explode. and good luck.

My Russian mother-in-law used an old fashioned stove top potato baker to char eggplants. I think it works the best. It is not as messy as other methods.

I think he means 1 T tahini over EACH eggplant, folks.

thanks for this playful take on a household favorite !for individual portions, i disected the stem of one eggplant per person lengthwise and continued to slice about 2 inches into the fruit, then pierced its skin in a few other places and oven-roasted it for about 40 mins. once cooked through, the eggplant can be slit so the halves open like a book, which yielded a neat heart shape when i pinched the stems to line up at the bottom. served it in the tender skin.

Followed the suggestion to roast four eggplants in the oven at 450° for one hour, and they turned out beautifully. I really enjoy this preparation. I found that I needed to be a little bit more aggressive with the salt, and a little bit more generous with the fresh oregano leaves, but other than that, love it.

A delicious and healthy way to enjoy eggplant. I followed the advice of cooks and halved the eggplants then roasted in a 425* oven. The sauce is what makes this recipe.

Drizzle with pomegranate syrup

Easiest way to cook eggplant: Cut it lengthwise in half, draw slices down to, but not through, the skin. Sprinkle with sea salt. In an hour or so squeeze the moisture out. Drizzle olive oil into the cuts. Roast eggplant halves face down until the skins blacken.

1) Use tube-shaped (rather than spherical) eggplants so they char evenly.2) This is pretty good when hot but is twice is good out of the fridge the next day.

Unbelievably delicious! Char the eggplant really well to get that lovely smokey flavor. I grilled them without first poking and the skins opened during the grilling, no problem with that on the grill.

During a trip to Israel, I couldn't get enough of charred eggplant with tahini sauce. The addition of the "salsa" is a great idea and I'll make this. Just pierce the eggplant before charring so it doesn't explode on you and plan on one eggplant/person.

No need to salt and drain eggplant - modern varieties don't have the bitterness that they used to when that suggestion was popular advice.
425f oven, slice the eggplants lengthwise in half, score deeply, brush with oil and salt liberally. the oven should be full, so if you don't have multiple trays, place a roasting pan with water in it which prevents the aubergine from crisping and burning on the edges and allows you to cook it for 45-50 minutes at that temperature.

Delicious!

This wasn't a hit when I served it, but I didn't want it to go to waste. I cut off the eggplant stems and then put the rest into my vitamix. Made a delicious smoky eggplant dip that everyone loved.

Forget the oregano. Add some pomegranate grains on the top. Make the eggplant puree in a mortar, add the lemon, salt and the tahini. You can finish it with the pomegranate. Trust me: my grand parents were from Lebanon

What do we do with the other 3T of tahini. Only 1T is accounted for in the recipe. Thank you.