Greek Aubergine Salad

Also known as MELITZANOSALATA

This little dish may look unassuming, but I’m sure it will steal your heart. Melitzanosalata — which literally means Aubergine Salad — is Baba Ghanoush’s Greek cousin. The way it’s prepared is slightly different, but it serves the same purpose: a dip that will make your tables look richer and your meals feel tastier.

Ideally you should roast the aubergines on an open flame to achieve a nice smoky flavour, but when this isn’t possible you can just as easily use your oven.

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Ingredients

1kg aubergines
1 red pepper
2 spring onions
1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
70 ml olive oil
salt
pepper

Cooking time & People

15min to make
1 hour in the oven

Step by step

• Pierce the aubergines with a fork several times

• Place the aubergines and the pepper on a tray covered with parchment paper. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180° for roughly 40-50min.

• The aubergines are ready when they become soft and wrinkly. Set them aside to cool down for a few minutes

• The pepper will take less time to cook (roughly 30min). When it’s wrinkly and soft, take it out of the oven and place it inside a plastic zip bag for 10min. Thanks to the moisture that you’ll create inside the bag, you’ll be able to get rid of the skin easily.

• Cut the aubergines in half and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. Use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Use all your strength to squeeze the liquid out. Its taste is very bitter, and you don’t want that anywhere near your melitzanosalata.

• Roughly chop the aubergines and transfer them in a bowl

• Take the pepper out of the bag and get rid of the skin. Cut it in half and get rid of the seeds. Chop thinly and add it in the same bowl with the aubergines.

• In a blender, mix the oil, garlic and vinegar until it gets to a vinaigrette consistency

• Add the liquid to your bowl and season with salt and pepper

• Thinly slice your spring onions and add them into the bowl

• Stir everything and taste again. Adjust salt and pepper seasoning if needed

• Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and some thinly sliced spring onion

Tips & cheats

If you don’t want a very strong garlic taste you can simply add it as a whole and throw it away after one day. In this way you will have the aroma but not the aftertaste.

If you are lucky enough to have a gas stove, you can cook the aubergines and the pepper directly on the flame for 20min. This will give you a lovely smoky aftertaste.

I am not a big fan of parsley but if you like it you can add some in. It will complement the dish really nicely.