by Henry Gould – July 15th, 2020

If you put this down as an appetizer or as part of a main course at any summer BBQ (to be eaten with lots of warm bread), you will be a rockstar. Baba Ganoush (roasted eggplant dip) is amazing on its own, but topped with warm lamb, fried with cumin and other spices, it sends it to a completely new level.

The baba ganoush can be made a few days ahead if necessary and kept in the fridge, but it’s best to take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving so it’s not ice cold.

The best way to serve it is on a large plate or platter, spread out, and then topped with the meat so that all the dip is covered. Then serve with warm pita bread, or other good quality bread that has been toasted or grilled.

Ground lamb fits nicely with the Middle Eastern theme of the dish, but ground beef, chicken or turkey would also work great.

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Baba Ganoush w/ Cumin Spiced Lamb

• Baba Ganoush
  • 1 large eggplant
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 2 lemons
  • Tahini
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • 1 pinch ground cumin
  • 1 pinch ground coriander
• Cumin Spiced Lamb
  • 500g ground lamb (or beef, chicken, turkey)
  • 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp hot paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 red onion, roughly chopped
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea sat
  • Black pepper
  • Fresh mint & fresh parsley (optional)
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts (optional)

Turn on your broiler and adjust the oven racks so they are very close to the broiler element. Wash the eggplant, then put on a baking sheet and stick under the broiler. Now…. proceed to burn the eggplant. Seriously. Let that thing blacken all over, turn and rolling the eggplant around as needed to get it fully blackened. It might take 10-15 minutes, which is OK. You pretty much can’t screw it up. It should look something like this when done:

Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then peel and scoop all the inside flesh out into a food processor bowl. If you don’t have a food processor you can chop by hand and then mix in a bowl if needed.

Add the garlic, juice of one lemon, spices, and a generously sprinkle of sea salt. Drizzle over 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, and 2-3 tbsp of tahini. It’s all by personal preference.

Blend until smooth, then have a taste. Add more salt, tahini and lemon juice if it needs it. Remember the lamb will be seasoned also, so you don’t want one or the other to be too over powering.

For the lamb, add some olive oil to a pot over medium heat, then the lamb, and begin breaking up with a spatula until it’s broken into small pieces. Allow to fry for 10 minutes so the water evaporates and the meat begins to fry in the oil. Add the onions and continue cooking.

Season with salt and the rest of the spices. Continue to fry until everything is nicely combined. If it’s getting too dry and the meat is catching on the bottom of the pot, you can add a little water.

Right at the last minute, add the pine nuts, parsley and mint then take off the heat and mix to combine.

Spread the baba ganoush over your serving platter, then top with the warm lamb mixture. Serve with the warm bread.