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Zaalouk With Tahini
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
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- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, stems and seeds removed
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2large eggplants, pierced all over with a fork
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- 1tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 2teaspoons ground cumin
- 1teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus extra to serve
- 2large ripe plum tomatoes (about 9 ounces), roughly chopped then puréed
- ¼cup finely chopped parsley leaves
- ¼cup finely chopped cilantro leaves, plus extra to serve
- ½teaspoon granulated sugar
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- 2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Scant ¼ cup tahini
- Pitas, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Step 2
Place the halved bell peppers on a parchment-lined baking sheet, skin side up, and drizzle lightly with oil. Place the eggplants on a separate lined baking sheet. Transfer both baking sheets to the oven, setting the peppers on the top shelf. Roast the peppers for 25 to 30 minutes, until charred and softened, and the eggplants for about 50 minutes, until completely collapsed and softened through the middle.
- Step 3
Once cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skin of the peppers and finely chop the flesh; set aside.
- Step 4
Peel the eggplants, discarding the skins and stems, and place the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl. Leave to drain for at least 20 minutes, pushing down to squeeze out and discard any extra liquid. Roughly chop the eggplants.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, heat the ¼ cup oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Once hot, add about three-quarters of the garlic plus the tomato paste, cumin, paprika and Aleppo pepper flakes; cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Add the blitzed tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, sugar and ¾ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and the oil has separated.
- Step 6
Add the chopped peppers and eggplants and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice; set aside to cool slightly.
- Step 7
Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini with the remaining garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ⅛ teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons water until easily pourable. Add a splash of more water if necessary.
- Step 8
Transfer the zaalouk to a wide, shallow bowl and drizzle with the tahini sauce. Sprinkle with extra Aleppo and cilantro and serve warm or at room temperature, with pitas to mop it all up.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I use a time-saving grilled and puréed eggplant product that is preserved in a glass jar. The brand is called Sera (from Turkey) and it has the natural smokiness you need for this recipe. It is delicious as well for baba ghanoush.
This is very nice, but an extremely high-effort dip. I used tinned tomatoes instead of plum, worked fine.
This takes a heckuva lot longer than the stated 20 minutes to prepare.
Guys, Ottolenghi's recipes always take a bunch of time. But that's kind of the joy. Watch his confit garlic humous recipe on youtube, it's a game changer! Just know you can't rush perfection :)
While the timing is definitely off, I don't think it took that long to make. I had some eggplant that I had roasted + frozen last week and used that instead of roasting from fresh. Benefit of that is that during the thawing process the eggplant releases a lot of the extra liquid naturally. I had this dip on top of baked potatoes with crispy chickpeas for some protein and it was a fantastic (extremely filling) dinner!
I made a half recipe of this and served it over some oven baked cod filets I popped in the same temp oven for about 10 minutes, warming some pita for the last 2 minutes. It was not as complicated as it seems, just takes time for the peppers and eggplant to do their things. While they cook I suggest mise en place in one bowl with the spices, tomato paste and garlic and another bowl with the fresh herbs and salt, sugar etc. that way it’s all set for you to dump in the pan when it is time. 5 stars.
Made this yesterday. Yes a bit of time and effort but so worth it with some naan bread and cocktails. Used unlined sheet pans and cleanup still easy. I’d say not a weekday recipe for working people ( I’m retired) but you could make on the weekend and rewarm.
I used tomatoes in a can. Turned out great.
So good. Quality ingredients and a dark roast is key. Came together really well. Yes, its cooking, couple steps. If you’re into quick&easy might not be your thing, but worth it. Doubled recipe, one portion tonight and for the other I kept the two parts separate in the fridge and reheated and topped next day, even better.
This recipe takes some time, but wow is it delicious. Yotam does not disappoint here! We ate this with focaccia, fresh from the oven, and a chopped salad. Optional merguez for the meat eaters. I will be making this all summer.
Maybe try cashew cream? Another possibility would be greek yogurt (plain) with a little olive oil and spices. It won't taste like tahini, but it will have a similar mouth feel and richness as a counterpoint to the veggies.
Delicious as described. May I offer two tips. Firstly, this is ‘free time cooking’. I pop the peppers n eggplant into the oven, and then I leave the kitchen. Personally I vacuumed the upstairs, but you do you. If it is a weeknight, roast the P&E the night before for sure. It need not be a 2-hour slog. Secondly, if you want to sub in canned/jarred stuff, why not just buy a jar of caponata and forget you ever saw this recipe? It would be cheaper, and also yummy.
I love using my air/ fryer toaster oven to roast any vegetables- super easy and it doesn’t heat up the whole house. I also liberally use a mini food processor to minimize chopping if it is all going together in a moosh anyway - I would put both the eggplant and pepper in at the same time - do other work and come back - they way I see it - an hour and a half to do this plus all the other work you get in in the house. I like the idea of jarred shortcuts but love using up fresh veggies.
It says 2 hrs in the header. 20 min for the eggplant drain
Hummus
Really loved this. In fact my generally eggplant disliking spouse thought it was fantastic (we got eggplants in a veg box). I ended up serving it over couscous which worked very nicely. It takes a while to make, yes, but the labor involved (and mess) is not bad.
Grilling the peppers and eggplant on charcoal makes a big difference, just as it does with the eggplant in baba ghanouj.
This is worth all of the preparation. Absolutely delicious. I used canned plum tomatoes and it worked well. I will replicate this later in the season when plum tomatoes are in season. This requires homemade pita, if you are up for it!
Wonderful recipe, love the tahini-topped tomato-eggplant mixture. I've made with both fresh tomatoes and canned San Marzanos with excellent results. Originally topped a baked potato with it as recommended, which was good, but I like it best with a warmed flour tortilla.
I tried to use some shortcuts (canned tomatoes instead of fresh, jarred peppers) and I’m not sure if it was those substitutions but this was truly gross. Flavorless and just weird. I threw it out after a few bites.
Overall really yummy and while it takes a long time to make it’s not very labor intensive during that time, you can take breaks and do other things while the eggplant is in the oven. Only tip would be the consistency was a bit too watery for us. Next time would either cook down the tomato’s longer or explicitly pre drain some of the tomato juice when pureeing.
A”keeper” recipe for my family and worth the prep steps and time. I used Cento brand rustic a passata to sub for the tomatoes,measured 8 oz., and it was great. Served with pita, green salad and very satisfied!
Absolutely gorgeous! Prepped eggplant and peppers and tomatoes the night before - took 10 mins to assemble the next eve. Ate the leftovers eggs and hot sauce - definite yummmm
Taking the time to use fresh ingredients was worth the results, the flavor was outstanding and well received even by a few who claimed they disliked eggplant. Normally I'd substitute or make a few changes in a recipe but not this it turned out too good to play with. So in reality I have no notes to follow it's all there.
Excellent! We made this for Christmas dinner along with Moroccan Lamb Tagine and Couscous. Save yourself the trouble and buy pre-roasted red peppers. We also used canned tomatoes (dumped most of the liquid) and it turned out delicious.
Made this for my book club to rave reviews. As with all dips that include roasted eggplant, it’s best if the eggplant is burned all over the outside so you get that delicious smoke essence.
Fantastic. I made this as-written for some vegan friends - served as the main course over rice. Everyone really loved it. It was a tad too spicy for one dinner guest, but that’s the risk you take dining in my kitchen.
I am a notoriously slow cook, so the notes on this one scared me. It’s worth it. Wonderful flavor. The good news to my fellow slowpokes is that you’re given plenty of time to clean while the recipe is happening, so at least you can speed it up that way.
Absolutely delicious. The tahini sauce, while delicious, is not needed. I served it with and without the tahini sauce and everyone thought it masked the depth of the eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. Double this recipe. It will be devoured.
You can pace out the prep if you WFH or make over the weekend. I threw the peppers and eggplant in the oven to roast midday, peeled and put aside. Then, cooking at night was fast and easy. Grated the tomatoes. Served on baked potatoes with labneh and chives; added chili oil to the tahini, to put on top.
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