minimum of 530 g eggplant (about 2 medium to large eggplants)
olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
chopped flat-leaf parsley or coriander leaves

Rinse the eggplants, remove the leaves from the stalk but leave the stalks intact. Halve the eggplants lengthwise. Brush them liberally with oil from all over.

Roast the eggplants halves either on a charcoal grill, under the oven broiler or in the oven. If using an oven, place the eggplants skin-side up on a baking sheet covered with foil. Roast at 275 °C for 10 minutes. Turn the eggplants over and roast the other side for another 10 minutes, or until they are soft and the skins are blackened.

Let the eggplants cool for 5 minutes. Scrape the flesh off the skins with a spoon. Place the flesh in a sieve and strain out the excess fluid. You should get about 200 to 300 grams of eggplant flesh.

Puree the flesh using a blender, a mixer or a hand/immersion blender. Add the tahini, lemon juice and pressed garlic. Mix and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley or coriander.

Serve as a spread or dip with Arabic flatbread or pita bread and vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, small, young scallions and olives.

Recipe source: adapted from "Baba Ghanoush", PBS/America's Test Kitchen, "Middle Eastern Barbecue", 2002.