This aubergine purée with cumin pitta bread is about as close as you can get to everyone’s favourite Greek restaurant aubergine purée.  It is intended to be an appetiser , but if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it hard to stop eating it and end up ruining your appetite for the rest of the meal.  So either make only half of the recipe, or make sure you’ve got plenty of guests to share it with.  Alternatively, just make a whole lot of it and eat it as your main course – you’ll only need a little salad and some black olives to complete the meal!
If you love aubergine like I do, I also recommend this baked aubergine parmesan with tofu pesto
To make it pretty, I like garnishing it with black olives, lemon and a bit of red pepper. You can present the dip any way you´d like, or not at all. It´s all up to you.
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Aubergine Purée with Cumin Pitta Bread
Author: Serena Langley
Recipe type: Appetiser
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 6
1 large aubergine, washed 3tbsp olive oil 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 small onion, chopped very fine 1tbsp lemon juice Pinch cayenne pepper 1tbsp finely chopped parsley 1tbsp finely chopped coriander 6 pieces of pitta bread Extra olive oil for brushing the bread Salt to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Baste the aubergine in olive oil and roast it in the preheated oven until it is deeply golden, about 40 minutes. Leaving the skin on, blend the aubergine adding the olive oil a tablespoon at a time as you blend. The mixture will expand quite a bit. Add the garlic, onion, lemon juice and cayenne and blend again until the mixture turns light and creamy. Stir in the chopped herbs by hand. Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and place in the centre of a round serving plate. Cut the pitta bread into quarters and brush both sides with olive oil. Arrange on a non-stick baking tray. Sprinkle the cumin seeds over the oiled pitta bread quarters. Bake in the oven for 5 or six minutes or until golden brown. Keep a close watch to make sure they don't burn. Serve immediately while the bread is still warm. Eat by dunking the bread into the purée.
2.2.6
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Tags: aubergine , Aubergine Purée with Cumin Pitta Bread , cayenne pepper , coriander , cumin seeds , garlic , lemon juice , olive oil , onion , parsley , pitta bread , vegetarian
This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 June, 2012 at 8:56 am by Serena Langley and is filed under Less than 1 hour , Meal for 6 people , Side dishes , Starters .
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Sounds a little bit like hummus, right?