Baked Eggplant with Tahini Lemon & Garlic Sauce

Baked Eggplant with Tahini Lemon & Garlic Sauce

I've been trying out a few Persian recipes lately. This one is definitely a favourite. It is so pretty on the table, and the flavours are decadent and delicious!

Ingredients

2 eggplants
1 pomegranate, de-seeded
1 small handful mint leaves, washed and torn/chopped
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

Tahini, Lemon and Garlic Sauce

4 tablespoons tahini*
Juice of one lemon (add more if your sauce is too thick!)
One clove garlic, minced (Confession: I use a LOT more garlic - because I LOVE garlic!!!)
1/2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup*
100g plain greek yoghurt (you can leave this out if you do not eat and enjoy dairy. Just add 50ml water to thin out the sauce)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Eggplants

Slice eggplants into thin lengthways slices.
Arrange on a baking tray. If you want to get a bit fancy, lightly score with a sharp knife in a lattice pattern (but it's really not necessary!).
Brush or spray with a little olive oil (again, this is optional).
Place in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees celsius) for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and turn each piece of eggplant over.
Return to oven and cook for another 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and arrange on a serving platter.
Spoon Tahini Sauce over each piece of eggplant, making sure each piece is fully covered.
Drizzle with pomegranate molasses.
Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and chopped/torn mint leaves.

Serve and enjoy!

* I use unhulled tahini when I make this sauce, which is a little more bitter than hulled tahini. That's why I add in a tiny amount of maple syrup or honey to balance out the flavours.