Moutabal—a Heavenly Purée

Name: Moutabal—a Heavenly Purée
Yield: enough for 2
Ingredients: large eggplants – 2; juice of a lemon; garlic – 2 cloves, crushed; tahini paste – 2 tablespoons; olive oil – 3 tablespoons

December 14, 2011

The smoky, parchment-hued cream moutabal is one of my desert-island dishes. Few recipes can produce anything as soft and sensuous as grilled eggplant, mashed to a pulp, and seasoned with lemon and sesame paste. The lemon is essential, working an ancient magic when involved with anything charred and smoky. Many lightly bake their eggplant for this, but without a good charring they lack the mysterious, smoky back notes that I consider as much a part of the ingredients as the eggplant itself.

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