Recipe (Re)creation: Roasted Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce

~ From top: roasted eggplant,
close-up of (re)creation, finished and plated (re)creation ~

This is another recipe (re)creation from the Plenty cookbook, which has become a staple in my kitchen.  I highly recommend the cookbook- so many great recipes to choose from!  This recipe is incredibly easy and looks absolutely beautiful (almost too beautiful to eat).  Its a great starter that you can make for yourself any weeknight.  Its also sure to impress if you make it for a dinner party.  The elegant combination of the tender eggplant, creamy sauce, and garnish of pomegranate seeds is pretty ingenious.   Thank you chef Ottolenghi for creating this one!

Serves 4-5 as a starter

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs to garnish

Maldon sea salt & black pepper

1 pomegranate

1 tsp za'atar (or dried oregano)

8 tbsp buttermilk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 small garlic clove, crushed

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise and make 4 cuts in the flesh of the eggplant in the shape of a diamond.  

Place the eggplant slices, cut-side up, on a baking sheet.  Brush them with olive oil and keep on brushing more oil on until the eggplant absorbs most of the oil.

Sprinkle the eggplant with thyme leaves and salt and pepper and roast for 35-40 minutes (or until flesh is soft and nicely browned).

Meanwhile cut the pomegranate and break it apart, releasing the seeds into a bowl.  Remove any bits of white skin from the pomegranate seeds.  

To make the sauce: whisk together all of the ingredients and keep cold until needed.

Serve each eggplant slice with a generous drizzle of buttermilk sauce, and garnish with za'atar, thyme and pomegranate seeds.  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!