Courgette Baba Ganoush

This Courgette Baba Ganoush dip is brilliant served as a starter with a crusty bread and it can suit any kind of summer gathering. It's also fairly quick to make, apart from the courgette grilling time, but they can grill while you prepare other dishes. I have adapted this recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty more (p. 162-165). I skipped the goat's yogurt, Roquefort and egg in order to keep my dish more simple. I also scaled the recipe down a bit, as I only had three courgettes. My version is easy to veganise by replacing the butter with a vegan alternative. Otherwise I pretty much followed Ottolenghi's instructions and here is how the dish is done.

Ingredients

3 courgettes

10 g butter

15 g pine nuts

Pinch of chilli flakes

1 tsp lemon juice

1 small garlic clove

Pinch of za'atar

Salt & black pepper

Method

Grill the courgettes in the oven under the highest grill setting for about 45 minutes. Turn them a few times during the grilling. The aim is to get them scorched outside and soft and smooth inside.

When taken out, let them cool a little bit and then scoop the flesh out from the skins. Mash the flesh into a smooth paste and drain the excess liquid off.

Melt the butter and cook the pine nuts in there until browned. Add the chilli flakes and lemon juice.

Add the finely chopped garlic, salt and pepper into the courgette mix.

Drizzle the chilli butter and za'atar on top.

Serve with a lovely crusty bread, like the sourdough baguette I had, and enjoy!

Your VegHog