Baba Ganoush & Saffron Tomato Confit Dip Duo
A crowd pleaser, without fail.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m tired of the same ol dips you run into at parties. It’s time to spice it up. I think I ate hummus everyday in college and I’m seriously burned-out. Cheese dips are fine but too much cheese dip makes my stomach feel like garbage. Other dips are just filled with dairy options I’m not into like sour cream and/or cream cheese. I was feeling very snaky one Sunday and was craving some different dips.
I landed on a baba ganoush cause I’ve been obsessed with the baba lately and wanted to make my own. The sweetness of a roasted eggplant brings such a good flavor punch to what is basically hummus without the garbanzo beans. Worth the switch! At the same time I was making a saffron confit because, why not, and when they were both done at the same time, I realized how well they went together as a little dip duo. Both so freakin easy and take minimal ingredients. Glow up that dip game, honey, and if you add a little Mediterranean cheese board with feta, olives, and some fresh veggies, I’m comin over!
Baba Ganoush
Ingredients
2 Chinese Eggplant (you can use any kind, I like that the taste of the Chinese and Japanese eggplants best)
3 Large Cloves Roasted Garlic
1/4 Cup Tahini
1/4 Cup Olive Oil, Plus 1 Tbsp for Roasting
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Salt
Dash of Pepper
For topping:
Parsley, chopped
Paprika
Drizzle of Olive Oil
For serving:
Pita bread, naan, chips, crostini, SCD crackers, veggies, basically anything you like to dip!
Recipe
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut eggplant into 1/2″ round pieces and place on baking sheet. Pour 1 tbsp olive oil over both with a dash of salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Place in the oven for 20 min. Take out and flip the eggplant rounds and add three garlic cloves to pan with a little touch of oil (leave skin on). Place back in for 20 more minutes.
Take pan out of the oven, remove skins from garlic and place garlic and eggplant into a food processor. Add tahini, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup olive oil into the food processor and pulse until smooth. I made mine on the puree setting for about 20-30 seconds.
Place in bowl and top with chopped parsley, paprika, and a little extra olive oil.
*Recipe Note: All eggplants are unique in size therefore I would sample your baba as you puree. Depending on size of the eggplant, you may need to have some extra lemon juice or salt handy to add in. Keep testing it as you go to get desired taste!
Saffron Confit
Ingredients
2 Pinches of Saffron Threads
2 Cups Cherry Tomatoes
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
Pinch of salt to taste
Recipe
Preheat oven to 350.
Place tomatoes, saffron, and salt in a small baking dish. Cover tomatoes with olive oil and place in the oven for 35-40 min.
Take out of oven and use a fork to mash tomatoes together so they form a paste like consistency. If they do not smash easily, place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Be careful when smashing!! I would go very slow so you don’t have hot tomato juice shooting all around your kitchen.