Italian summer fare is amazing. Big red juicy tomatoes, firm colorful bell peppers, huge black or violet aubergines. It just makes me feel so good...
Sometimes, I just eat those vegetables in the easiest way possible, just chopped and quckly sautéed with good olive oil and salt, other times simply raw on crusty bread or in salads.
Many times, however, I feel more inspired. I feel like I want to explore different flavors and combinations, using local vegetables in exotic ways.
With the couple of aubergines I bought at the farmers'market, I made baba ganoush. I missed that flavor since my friend from Sydney left Italy to travel around the world. She was the first one to introduce me to this dish and to teach me how to make it. I loved her baba ganoush from the very first bite on crusty pita.
"It's so easy", she said. "All you need are good ingredients: good aubergines, good tahini, good olive oil".
So, one day, I tried to make it myself, following her instructions. I used mortar and pestle to enjoy the moment even more. I was quite happy with the result, but still: she must have a magic touch.
The tic tic tic noise of my mortar-peste work lead J. in the kitchen, half curious half annoyed, but fully hungry.
"This is what we're having for dinner?"
"No, there's pita dough rising on the counter...We can make Middle-Eastern sandwiches!", I entusiastically said. I am always excited about trying new things.
Pita bread were cooking in the oven while I was finalizing the aubergine sauce. J. was chopping some feta cheese. Dinner was ready --and it was good.
Baba Ganoush
2 aubergines, cut into halves
3 cloves of garlic, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup tahini
1tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
2T lemon juice
1T olive oil
1 bunch of parsley
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the aubergines skin down on a baking sheet and bake until very tender. Dig the pulp out of the skin and transfer it into a food processor (or in a mortar for more fun), add lemon juice, salt, garlic and tahini. Purée all ingredients until you get a pretty smooth texture. Season with cumin, olive oil and parley.
We ate it on crostini, with pita chips or in a pita sandwich (the same I used here) with crumbled feta, lettuce and more parsley. Delicious.
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La ricetta in Italiano
nota: le misure usate sono quelle standard di volume (cups/tablespoons/teaspoons)
Baba Ganoush
2 melanzane grandi, tagliate a metà
1/2 tazza di tahini (pasta di semi di sesamo)
1 cucchiaio di olio evo
3 spicchi d'aglio tagliati a pezzetti
1 cucchiaino di sale
1 cucchiaino di cumino in polvere
2 cucchiai di succo di limone
prezzemolo
Infornare le melanzane a 200°C posizionandole buccia in giù su una placca da forno. Cuocere fino a che non saranno molto tenere. Scavare la polpa e buttare la buccia, trasferire tutto nel mixer (o nel mortaio se siete volenterose come me :)), condire con sale, succo di limone, aglio e il tahini. Frullare tutto fino ad ottenere una consistenza cremosa. Condire con olio, cumino e prezzemolo.
Noi l'abbiamo mangiato in un pita sandwich (il pane è lo stesso di questo post) con feta, lattuga e altro prezzemolo --deliziosa!
