Greek Smoked Aubergine Dip Recipe Melitzanosalata Food

MELITZANOSALATA RECIPE

Steps:

• Keep the eggplant whole and pierce with a fork in a few places.
• Smoke the eggplant. Place the eggplant over a gas flame, grill or under a broiler, and cook, turning around using a pair of tongs, until the skin is fully charred, and the eggplant is quite tender.
• Cool and drain eggplant. Place the eggplant in a bowl and set aside until cool enough to handle (a bowl is helpful because the eggplant will release some juices). Peel the charred skins off and discard. Cut the eggplant into chunks and place in a colander to get rid of any remaining excess juices (about 10 more minutes).
• Transfer the eggplant to a mixing bowl. Add the garlic, onion, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil. Add salt and pepper and spices (if using). Mix to combine and use your fork to break up the eggplant into smaller chunks.
• At this point, if you have the time, it's a good idea to cover and chill the eggplant dip in the fridge for a few brief minutes.
• Transfer the eggplant dip to a serving plate and spread. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Arrange Garnish with lemon zest, parsley, red onions, olives, a sprinkle of feta. Serve with crusty bread or pita bread.

GREEK SMOKED AUBERGINE DIP RECIPE (MELITZANOSALATA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C or 392F
• Wash the aubergine ( eggplant) under running water and dry it with a towel. Pierce the aubergine a few times with a toothpick once dry.
• Place the aubergine (eggplant) on a baking tray and roast it at 180C-200C or 356-392F for 30-40 minutes. Check at regular intervals if the aubergine is ready. Note that cooking time will depend on the size of the aubergine.
• When the aubergine is ready, remove it from the oven. Slice it along the long axis so that the flesh is visible. The flesh will be soft and juicy.
• Dice the tomato and chop the garlic finely.
• Crumble the Feta cheese and sprinkle it along with tomato, garlic and thyme on the aubergine.
• Finally drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

MELITZANOSALATA (GREEK EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) SPREAD)

Steps:

• Wash eggplant, place in baking pan and bake in at 375F for about one hour, or until soft when pierced with a fork and the eggplant has sort of collapsed into itself.
• allow the skin to turn black and charred so as to give a smoky flavour to the salad (you can also grill the eggplant by putting them directly on the grate- whole- on your bbq. Grill until skin is blackened and charred and eggplant is very soft and starting to deflate. If you use the grill method- leave out the liquid smoke).
• Skin eggplant when cool enough for you to stand it and chop in small pieces. Mash it up a bit with a fork.
• Mix well with onion, garlic, tahini, oil, vinegar (start with 1 tblsp of vinegar and if you want it sharper, add more, a bit at a time), salt and pepper (to taste).
• Note: I kind of beat this around with a fork to incorporate the oil well into the eggplant spread- you don't want it looking oily at all, but creamy.