Grilled Eggplant with Tahini Dressing

Grilled eggplant can be topped with a variety of sauces or herbs to change and elevate the dish. It can be served at a starter or side dish, but I frequently make this as a vegetarian main dish. It's so flavoursome for very little effort.

When choosing an eggplant, avoid the overly large ones. They tend to have more seeds and will likely be quite bitter. Make sure the eggplant is not squishy. It should be a bit firm, with a nice shiny skin. Some people may not like to eat the eggplant skin. In that case just peel them before salting, or peel some strips of skin off from top to bottom which will give you a lovely dotted look on the edges.

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon salt

• Aleppo pepper and chopped parsley

Tahini Dressing

• 1/3 cup tahini

• 1/4 cup water

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

• Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds. Place a single layer of eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Continue to layer and sprinkle till you have placed all the eggplant in the colander. Let sit for 30 minutes.

• While eggplant is resting, make the tahini dressing. Blend the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a small blender. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time while giving it a quick pulse between additions until you reach a consistency that you are happy with. I usually use a 1/4 cup to have more of a thin drizzle than a glaze for this dish.

• After the eggplant has rested for 30 minutes, remove from the colander and pat dry with paper towels or a tea towel.

• Heat the grill pan or grill over medium heat. Brush pan or grill with oil. Do not brush the eggplant with oil as it will just absorb it like a sponge.

• Grill eggplant rounds for 3-4 minutes per side.

• Place eggplant all around serving plate before drizzling over the tahini dressing and sprinkling over chopped parsley and Aleppo pepper.

Alternatively, if you don't like tahini you could top this with a drizzle similar to a chimichurri, made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Aleppo pepper and chopped mint. Also delicious!