Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce

This Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce is absolutely bursting with flavour! Paired with Sumac, Pomegranate, Toasted Pine Nuts and Fresh Parsley, how could it not be?

First things first, for the sake of this post we’re gonna go with ‘eggplant’ instead of ‘aubergine’. Being from the UK myself, I was indeed more familiar with the term aubergine. However since world domination of the eggplant emoji, i’ve changed my ways. Anywho, let’s tuck in shall we?

Eggplant is so underrated, due to the vicious rumours that are often spread about it. You know, that it’s boring and bitter. Blasphemy I tell you! Eggplant is gorgeously flavoursome with a soft and silky texture. I won’t except any other descriptions.

For me, it’s always gotta be roasted. Not even sliced into circles or chunks, just cut straight through the centre. Can’t beat it.

Well actually you can, you can roast it in sumac and pair it with the most delicious tahini yogurt sauce, but we’ll get to that in a sec.

How To Roast Eggplant

1. Grab a knife and slice your eggplant in a crosshatch pattern. You want to go fairly deep but not all the way. Eggplants can often be incredibly thick, so it’s important to open up the surface to allow the seasoning and oil to reach the insides.
2. Do you need to salt eggplant? – it’s believed that salting eggplants prior to roasting and allowing them to rest for a while will draw out moisture, take away any bitterness and allow the oil to be more evenly distributed. That I do agree with. Eggplants nowadays are never really that bitter, but they are around 90% water so it is important to draw out moisture before cooking. I find that if I don’t salt prior to roasting the eggplants produce too much water, which in turn begins to steam instead of roast them, reducing the chance of getting that gorgeous browned skin. Doesn’t make a huge different, but it’ll help.
3. What does make a huge difference is the ability to coat them in oil. Try evenly spreading oil over a non-salted eggplant and tell me it doesn’t absorb it like a sponge.
4. Either way, squeeze out the moisture after 30 mins of salt-resting, pat dry, coat them in a good amount of oil and seasoning (here I use sumac) and chuck them in the oven at 390f/200c until soft and silky.

Easy as that!

 “So, what’s this ‘sumac’ you’ve been banging on about then?”

Good question. For those of you not familiar with sumac, it’s a gorgeous spice often used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. It’s got a beautiful tangy, lemony taste to it. Sumac goes hand in hand with not only the roasted eggplant itself, but the other ingredients I use to garnish as well.

One of those garnishes being the tahini yogurt sauce. Oh my. This stuff is genuinely liquid gold. I usually have to make a double batch because half of it’s gone by the time it’s ready to serve. It’s seriously so easy to make as well.

It’s like, why would you not make this and drizzle it over literally everything?

All in all this roasted eggplant recipe is to die for. Not just a pretty face, it’s an absolute explosion of flavour too. So easy to make and even easier to fall in love with!

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How to make Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce (Full Recipe & Video)

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce

This Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce is absolutely bursting with flavour! Paired with Sumac, Pomegranate, Toasted Pine Nuts and Fresh Parsley, how could it not be?!

5 from 4 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 4

Course: Brunch / Lunch

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 311kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Ingredients (check list):

• ▢ 2 Eggplants (Aubergines)
• ▢ 2-3 tbsp Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 tsp Sumac
• ▢ 1/3 cup /50g Feta, crumbled
• ▢ 1/4 cup Pine Nuts, toasted (small handfuls worth)
• ▢ 1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds (small handfuls worth)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• ▢ Salt & Black Pepper

Tahini Yogurt Sauce

• ▢ 3 tbsp Plain Yogurt
• ▢ 2 tbsp Tahini
• ▢ 1/2 small Lemon
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (or 1 minced clove of fresh garlic)
• ▢ drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (approx 1 tsp worth)
• ▢ pinch of Sumac
• ▢ Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
• ▢ Cold Water as needed

Instructions:

• Evenly slice your eggplants length ways, then slice a crosshatch pattern through the flesh, making sure you don't slice all the way through. Slices should be about 1" apart.
• Grab a good pinch of Salt and rub into the eggplants, making sure you get in between the slices. Rest for 25-30mins then squeeze out the excess moisture that is produced. Pat dry with paper towel.
• In a small bowl, combine your Olive Oil, Sumac and a pinch of Black Pepper, then brush over your Eggplants. Again, making sure you get between the slices.
• Pop in the oven at 390f/200c for a good 30-40mins until silky soft in the centre.
• Meanwhile, in a suitably sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the Tahini Yogurt Sauce, thinning out with water until desired texture. Now is the time to toast your Pine Nuts if you haven't already.
• Top your Eggplants Tahini Yogurt Sauce, Pomegranate, Pine Nuts, Feta and Parsley. Serve hot.

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Depth of slicing - You want to go deep, so all the seasoning and oil can reach as much of the flesh as possible. However it's important you don't go right through, else your eggplant will fall apart in the oven.

 

b) Skin - You can certainly eat the skins of eggplant! I usually don't and just use them as boats to scoop out the centre. However if you do plan on eating the skins then oil and seasoning accordingly.

 

c) Timings - I always feel like a cop out saying 'cooking times will vary' but this is definitely applicable to this recipe. Eggplants come in all different shapes, sizes and ages, all of which will effect the time they take to cook. The finished product should have a caramel tinted colour, with the insides being soft and silky. Just be vigilant past 30 mins. Don't be concerned if they take longer than stated too.

 

d) Salting - I have stated the benefits of salting in the blog post. If you chose not to pre-salt to save time, that's absolutely fine, just make sure you definitely use a brush to coat the eggplants with oil. This will give you a more even coverage. Also, as the eggplants will release more water during the cooking process, consider tipping out some of water produced half way through. This will help stop the eggplants from steaming instead of roasting.

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Yogurt Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 311 Calories from Fat 208

% Daily Value*

Fat 23.11g36%

Saturated Fat 4.51g23%

Trans Fat 0.005g

Polyunsaturated Fat 5.96g

Monounsaturated Fat 10.83g

Cholesterol 13mg4%

Sodium 134mg6%

Potassium 790mg23%

Carbohydrates 23.76g8%

Fiber 10g40%

Sugar 13.63g15%

Protein 7.65g15%

Vitamin A 450IU9%

Vitamin C 12.4mg15%

Calcium 140mg14%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Looking for more?You'll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook 'Comfy'

For more pomegranate goodness, check out my Loaded Sweet Potatoes!

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