Recipe - Roasted Eggplant And Garlic Dip With Parsley

1 lg Eggplant; (about 1 1/2
pounds)
1 teaspoon Olive oil plus additional
for coating
; eggplant
1 lg Head garlic; unpeeled
4 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice; or to
taste
1/3 cup Wellstirred tahini; (sesame
seed paste)*
Three fourths cup Finely chopped fresh parsley
leaves

ACCOMPANIMENT
Pita wedges; toasted if
desired

*available at specialty food shops, natural food stores, and some
supermarkets

Preheat oven to 450F.

Prick eggplant with a fork several times and on a baking sheet rub with
just enough oil to coat.

Cut off and discard top quarter of garlic head to expose cloves and set
garlic in middle of a large piece of foil. Drizzle garlic with 1 teaspoon
oil and enclose completely in foil. Place foil packet next to eggplant on
baking sheet and roast in middle of oven, turning eggplant after 30
minutes, 45 to 50 minutes, or until eggplant is very soft and collapsed.
Unwrap garlic carefully and cool eggplant and garlic on baking sheet.

Transfer eggplant to cutting board. Cut off and discard stem end and halve
eggplant lengthwise. Scoop flesh out into a bowl, scraping as close to skin
as possible. Pour off any liquid accumulated in bowl.

Squeeze roasted garlic from skins into a food processor. Add eggplant,
lemon juice, tahini, parsley, and salt to taste and blend until smooth and
parsley is minced fine. Dip may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Transfer dip to a bowl and serve with pita wedges.

Makes about 2 cups.

Gourmet January 1995

Converted by MC_Buster.

Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.