Yesterday was a pretty epic food prep day in my kitchen. While at the grocery store in the morning, I was irresistibly drawn to a gorgeous eggplant and was inspired to make some kind of roasted eggplant dip/spread/ something…. I also got one red and one yellow pepper to roast alongside the eggplant.

Before I get to the details of how I made this, I just want to express very clearly that I do not measure anything. So the “quantities” I include in this “recipe” are estimates at best.

Ingredients:

1 whole eggplant

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 onion, roughly chopped

5 cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (approx 2-3 tbs)

balsamic vinegar (approx 2-3 tbs)

cumin (1-2 tsp)

salt & pepper to taste

Procedure:

Since I had just grilled some chicken and the grill was already hot, I decided to “roast” the eggplant and the peppers on the grill. I just put the veggies directly on the racks, and grilled them over very low heat (approx 300) for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally. I knew they were done once the peppers were charred all the way around and the eggplant was soft to the touch.

Once the veggies were off the grill, I set them aside to cool down a bit. While I was waiting, I chopped up an onion and peeled some garlic and tossed them into a 400 degree oven to roast for about 20 minutes.

I peeled and seeded the peppers, scooped the flesh out of the eggplant, and put everything into the food processor. I added the roasted onions and garlic, salt and pepper, and a few glugs of olive oil (that is a very precise measurement), and then blitzed the processor for a few seconds.

When I tasted the mixture, there was something missing. If there had been a lemon in my fridge, I would have added some lemon juice to brighten up the flavor, but there wasn’t, so I added some balsamic vinegar instead. After a few more seconds in the food processor, I was satisfied with the taste and the texture, so it was done.

If there had been parsley available, I would have chopped that up and mixed it in as well.

Let me be clear: this stuff tastes amazing. I ate it on top of chicken last night, and am planning to do the same for lunch today. It would also be phenomenal on burgers, or with lamb, or on pasta (if you eat pasta). You can also just eat it with a spoon. It’s that good.

Enjoy!