Our recipe for eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts makes a variation on the Middle Eastern mezze baba ganoush using the old fashioned method – mashing it with a fork or pounding it with a pestle and mortar. The result is a more textured, creamier, rustic dip sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and pine kernels. Scoop it up with warm flatbreads or crispy pita chips.
If you can source fresh pomegranates and pine nuts make this bejewelled baba ganoush, one of our favourite Middle Eastern dishes, to add dazzle to your mezze spread. Often compared to rubies due to their shine and deep-red colour, the seeds at the centre of pomegranates, called arils, are all at once sweet and sour, while pine nuts add creamy, buttery flavour and crunch to baba ganoush.
You’ll love this smoky eggplant dip topped with pomegranate seeds and pine nuts if you enjoyed this easy baba ganoush recipe made in a food processor or blender. Using traditional methods – either mashing the eggplant with a fork or pounding it with a pestle and mortar – give the baba ganoush a more rustic creamy texture.
Serve this eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts as a snack with flatbreads or crudités such as carrot batons and cucumber spears, with an array of Arabic dips such as hummus and muhammara as starters, with salads such as tabbouleh or an Arabic farmers salad, or as a side alongside spiced beef kofta, garlicky chicken kebabs or kofta meatballs, and this Middle Eastern spiced rice dish.
Now let’s tell you more about our traditional eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts for the Middle Eastern mezze called baba ganoush.
Eggplant Dip with Pomegranate and Pine Nuts Recipe for a Bejewelled Baba Ganoush
I can’t recall having even seen a pomegranate until we moved to the United Arab Emirates way back in the late Nineties and then they were absolutely everywhere, piled into perfect pyramids on display in local markets and supermarkets across the Middle East.
One of the oldest ingredients in the Middle East, dating to the Bronze Age, the pomegranate is rich in history and symbolism, and has immense cultural and religious significance. For instance, historians believe the pomegranate was the forbidden fruit, not the apple.
Throughout the Middle East, the ruby-like pomegranate seeds glisten atop mezze dips, sparkle within salads such as fattoush, and are strewn across plates of soft grilled vegetables, such as red capsicums (bell peppers) and eggplants (aubergines), kebabs, koftas, and more.
Our recipe for a traditional eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts makes one such dish that literally dazzles amongst a spread of Middle Eastern mezze, drawing your eyes to the delicious smoky aubergine dip.
Pomegranate seeds and pine kernels are also sprinkled across hummus and muhamarra but I love the pair topped on baba ganoush.
Tips to Making this Eggplant Dip with Pomegranate and Pine Nuts
I only have a few tips to making this traditional eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts, as it’s super easy. You’ll never buy a store-bought baba ganoush again.
Firstly, use a skewer or fork to poke some holes into the eggplants so they don’t burst. This is a must! You can either roast, barbecue, grill or bake the eggplants, but they’re best cooked over a live flame.
You need to cook the eggplants until their skins are blistered and blackened, as this is what gives the eggplants smoky flavours and aromas. The cooking time will vary depending on which method you use, but I find it usually takes 15-30 minutes.
I recommend using tongs to transfer each eggplant to a plastic bag. Tie up each of the plastic bags, and leave them to rest. The steam will loosen the charred skin, making it so much easier to peel the eggplants.
When the eggplants are cool enough to touch, use a tablespoon to scrape off the blackened skin and scoop out and discard the seeds. If the eggplant flesh appears wet, transfer it to a fine mesh strainer and let it sit for 5 minutes or so to strain the juices.
Otherwise, transfer the soft eggplant flesh to a bowl or mortar and use a fork or pestle to mash or lightly pound the eggplant until it has the texture of a dip yet remains rustic rather than smooth.
Add the tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic cloves, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil, and continue to gently mash or pound until everything is well combined. Taste your eggplant dip and if needed adjust it to suit your palate.
Scoop the eggplant dip into a serving bowl, swirl a teaspoon around the top of the dip, spoon the pomegranate seeds into the crevice, then shower with pine nuts and roughly chopped flat leaf parsley leaves.
Serve this smoky eggplant dip immediately or refrigerate until you’re ready to eat, then serve with Arabic flat breads, crispy pita chips or crunchy vegetable crudités, with an assortment of other dips as a mezze spread, or alongside Middle Eastern salads and mains. We’ve got plenty of recipes on the links above.
Eggplant Dip Recipe with Pomegranate and Pine Nuts
Eggplant Dip with Pomegranate and Pine Nuts for Baba Ganoush
Our recipe for eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts makes the Middle Eastern mezze called baba ganoush using the old fashioned method – mashing it with a fork or pounding it with a pestle and mortar. The result is a more rustic textured dip sprinkled with pomegranate and pine nuts that’s eaten with flatbreads and an array of dips.
- 2 eggplants – large
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 4 tbsp lemon juice – preferably freshly squeezed
- 2 garlic cloves – minced
- ½ tsp sea salt – or to taste
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil – or to taste
- 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley leaves – roughly chopped
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Use a skewer to poke holes into the eggplants so they don’t burst, then roast, barbecue, grill or bake the eggplants over a live flame on a stovetop, grill or barbecue, or beneath an oven-grill (broiler) until the eggplant skins are blistered and charred and eggplant flesh is soft. Times will vary depending on method used, but could take 15-30 minutes.
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Using tongs, transfer each eggplant to a plastic bag, tie up each bag, and set them aside to rest so the steam loosens the charred skin, making the eggplants easier to peel.
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When the eggplants are cool enough to touch, use a tablespoon to scrape off the blackened skin, scoop out and discard the seeds. If the eggplant flesh appears wet, transfer it to a fine mesh colander and let it sit for 5 minutes or so to strain any juices, otherwise transfer the eggplant flesh to a bowl or mortar and pestle.
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To the same bowl or mortar, use a fork or pestle to mash or lightly pound the eggplant flesh until it’s soft yet remains rustic in texture. Add the tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic cloves, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil, and continue to gently mash or pound until everything is well combined. Try it and adjust to suit your taste.
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Transfer the eggplant dip to a serving bowl, swirl a teaspoon from the centre of the dip in a circle or two, spoon the pomegranate seeds into the crevice, and sprinkle on the pine nuts and flat leaf parsley leaves.
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Serve with Arabic flat breads, crispy pita chips or crunchy vegetable crudités such as asparagus spears and carrot batons as a snack, with an array of other dips as a mezze spread, or alongside kofta, kebabs, chicken shawarma, or shish tawook for a side to Middle East mains.
Calories: 198kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 304mgPotassium: 629mgFiber: 8gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 145IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make this traditional eggplant dip with pomegranate and pine nuts for the Middle Eastern mezze called baba ganoush.
A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.
