Smoky eggplant puree with harissa recipe

Smoky eggplant puree with harissa

Curtis Stone starts off your Christmas feast with this delightfully smoky dip served with homemade pita chips.

To prep: 0:25
To cook: 0:38
Ingredients: 15
Difficulty: EASY
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Equipment

You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Ingredients

60g feta cheese

Eggplant dip

4-5 eggplants (about 2kg total)
8 teaspoons plus 2 tbsp olive oil
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 cup tahini
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Harissa

2 long red chillies, seeded, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Pita chips

2 large pita breads, split horizontally in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

Step 1
To make the eggplant dip, preheat the barbecue to medium-high heat. Using a small knife, make slashes all over the eggplants and rub each eggplant with 2 teaspoons of oil. Insert 2 garlic cloves into each eggplant.

Step 2
Barbecue the eggplants, turning often to ensure even coloring and cooking, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until charred all over and softened. Set aside to cool. Discard the skin from the eggplants. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and remove the seed sacs.

Step 3
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).

Step 4
In a food processor, blend the eggplant pulp and garlic to form a smooth puree. Blend in the tahini, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season to taste with salt.

Step 5
To make the harissa, using a mortar and pestle, pound the chillies, garlic, coriander, cumin, and salt to form a coarse paste. Mix in the oil. Alternatively, coarsely mince all of the ingredients together in a small food processor.

Step 6
Tear each pita half into wedges and arrange the wedges evenly over 2 large baking trays. Brush the pita wedges with the oil and sprinkle with the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the pita wedges are crisp and golden. Serve warm with the eggplant dip.

Coles - October 2014
Recipe by Curtis Stone