Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata)




Not long after buying the cookbook, I took a trip to Greece and discovered melitzanosalata.  It was a light, creamy dip that did not taste at all like the smoky eggplant you find in other salad versions of this recipe.  I was thrilled to find the recipe in the cookbook when I returned home and I made it repeatedly, eating it with pieces of freshly baked baguette from a local bakery.  This recipe alone was reason enough for me to have bought the cookbook.

To prepare this dip, I cook one large eggplant using a pressure cooker to speed things up and to not warm up the kitchen too much.  I peel the skin off but do not scrape the seeds out and it still tastes fine to me.  The cooked eggplant does need to drain (I let it sit in a strainer while cooling) so that the dip does not become watery.  I use fresh garlic instead of powdered garlic or garlic salt but the latter would be easier to measure as it is easy to add too much fresh garlic. Dr. Andrea Hall

Melitzan0salata (Eggplant Dip, Blended)

 

Bake: 1 hour

Prep: 10 min

Serves: 6

 

Melitzano, eggplant, dates back to ancient Greece. This tasty and heathy mezé can be made in advance into a dip to have ready to eat when you walk in the door and are really, really hungry after a long day. It is full of Vitamin A and C and polyphenols that help process glucose.

 

1 large eggplant, about 8 inches

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 tablespoon onion, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons white vinegar


 

Prick eggplant all over with fork. Cover bottom of a pan with water and place eggplant in pan. Bake at 3250 F for 1 hour until it feels tender when pierced with a sharp fork. Peel and cut eggplant in half. Remove as many seeds as possible. Squeeze water from eggplant, cut into 2-inch pieces and set aside. Place onion in blender. Turn blender on, slowly adding olive oil for approximately one minute. With blender still running, add remaining ingredients and blend until thoroughly mixed.


4/2023 I learned there is some confusion around the translation of melitzanosalata which translates to eggplant dip or eggplant salad. Most know that melitzan0 is an eggplant, but salata refers to a dip or a salad which may be the reason for a bit of confusion.


 

 

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