gluten_free | Babaganoush

I recently made this from scratch, as I can make it keto whereas store-bought versions locally have more carbs (they add stuff like cornstarch and chickpeas). It's delicious and warming for autumn with a touch of chilli! The following is from trial and error and adapted from the Jamie Oliver recipe, combined with another version. It's a great alternative to hummus as aubergines are low carb, unlike chickpeas. I had to wait awhile to try this as supply chain issues meant I had difficulty getting hold of aubergines.

Serves: Makes a dessert-sized dish of dip.

Ingredients:

3 medium aubergines (mine were about 8-10 inches long)

light olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (raw) and 4 (baked)

1.5 tablespoons tahini

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium lemon (juice of)

salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.

On a chopping board, cut the aubergines in half lengthways. Cut off the stem.

Score the flesh sides in a crisscross pattern, making sure you don’t cut through the skins.

Drizzle on the light/cheaper olive oil, and use your hands to coat the skin and cut side of the aubergines. Arrange on a lined baking tray, flesh-side up, and add 4 large cloves of garlic to the baking tray. Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, or until soft. Set aside to cool. I covered them with foil then removed it for the last 15min so they could brown a little.

Peel and roughly chop 2 raw cloves of garlic, then place in a food processor or bullet blender. (with the other ingredients, this quantity just fitted into my bullet blender.)

Add the tahini, chilli powder (if using), cumin, the extra virgin olive oil and the cooled aubergine, scooped out from the skin. Squeeze in the baked garlic. Cut the lemon in half and add the juice, discarding any pips.

Blitz until smooth.

Have a taste, and add salt as needed.

Transfer to a bowl, to serve. Once slightly chilled it'll become thicker.

Eat with crudites or low-carb bread (or any flatbread if not bothering with the low carb thing).

Babaganoush

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