Roasted Eggplant and Almond Butter Spread

Like baba ghanouj with a little something extra, this roasted eggplant and almond butter spread is richly flavored and has a generous dose of parsley.

Serve with fresh pita bread, crackers, and raw vegetables including radishes, cucumber, carrots, turnip, celery, broccoli, or whatever raw veggies you have on hand.

This recipe calls for za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend that combines herbs, sumac, and sesame seeds. It makes this dip extra yummy, but no worries if you can’t find it— you can substitute a smaller amount of Italian seasoning. Learn more about za’atar.

Swaps for almond butter: You can easily make your own almond butter with blanched almonds (scroll down the Guide to Almonds and Almond Butter for instructions) or use ready made from a jar. In place of almond butter, you can also use cashew butter or sunflower butter.

Peanut butter works too, but it asserts itself more. Of course, this would work with tahini (sesame paste) as well, though that would pretty much make it baba ghanouj.

Here are lots more delectable global vegan eggplant recipes.

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Yield: 8

Roasted Eggplant and Almond Butter Spread

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Serve this cousin to baba ghanouj with fresh pita bread, crackers, and raw vegetables including radishes, cucumber, carrots, turnip, celery, broccoli, etc.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large or 2 medium eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/3 cup almond butter (or substitute any other nut or seed butter)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (see note)
• Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, to taste (2 to 4 tablespoon)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons za’atar (Middle Eastern herb and spice blend), or 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
2. Bake the eggplants whole on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 30 to 40 minutes, or until collapsed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3. When the eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel it and chop the flesh coarsely. 
4. Combine the eggplant flesh with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Pulse on and off until evenly and coarsely chopped. Don’t puree — leave some texture.
5. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve at room temperature as suggested in the headnote as an appetizer or snack.

 If you like this roasted eggplant spread, you might also enjoy …

Baba Ghanouj

See lots more tasty vegan appetizers & snacks.