I love eggplant…but I admit I’m picky about it. I always find it hard to prepare at home and I don’t seem to enjoy it as much as the eggplant I have when I’m eating out at restaurants. I was able to change that today with this eggplant Parm dip, yes, a dip.
I’m not going to lie to you, today was tough. We had no power all day (it just came back on and that’s why I am able to post tonight), it was my night to host Sunday night dinner and I had to cancel. Hard to prepare a meal for 8 with no power. When the power came back on I was able to put together at least one of the dinner components I was planning on, and this was our dinner tonight along with a side of apple slices. Let me tell you though, I didn’t need anything else but this dip. This dip is eggplant prepared at home and I loved it! The only thing missing was the Anderson’s…until next week. I may be making this every time I see eggplant in the share now! Take a look at how simple it is to put this together
Poke the eggplant all over with a fork. Lay on a lined cookie sheet.
Add a head of garlic with the top cut off to reveal just a bit of the garlic clove. Splash on a little olive oil. Place into a preheated 375 degree oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until all of the eggplant is very tender and the garlic is fragrant and golden in color.
Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant and place it into a vitamin or blender. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the vitamin as well, discard the papery outsides.
Add some salt, pepper, and herbs to the blender. This would be a perfect place for fresh basil but I didn’t have any on hand so I went with dried basil, as well as thyme.
Give it a quick zip in the vitamix. Add 3/4-1 cup of marinara sauce and zip it up again until smooth.
Put the mixture into a baking dish and spread it out evenly.
Cover the top with mozzerella and Parmesan cheese, then top it with bread crumbs (gf in my house). Put it under the broiler to melt the cheese and create a nice crisp texture on top.
The result is an ooey gooey dip that tastes exactly like eggplant Parm. My one criticism is that I found it to be a bit too garlicky. When I make it again, and I will make it again, I would use half of the head of roasted garlic, saving the other half for possibly another batch of my creamy garlic salad dressing! Hope you guys give this one a try. Enjoy!