How to make authentic baba ghannouj

Get two medium sized eggplants and place on an oven pan.

With a sharp knife, make half-inch slits all over the eggplants and place in preheated oven. Bake at 350 F (180 C) until eggplants become soft (it took me approximately 35 minutes).

Suggestion: For a nice chargrilled flavor, roast eggplants over a open fire and allow skin to burn a bit.

Remove eggplants from oven and let cool. Next, slice off the stems from eggplants and discard.

With the tips of your fingers, begin peeling back skin of the eggplant and discard. This should be easy if your eggplants are roasted enough. If flesh of eggplant comes off with skin, keep the flesh.

Note: you can use a blender instead of a food mill, simply follow the instructions with a blender.

Slice roasted eggplants in large pieces and blend in food mill OR blender.

Make sure to remove any excess eggplant from bottom of food mill.

Add juice of 1 lemon to blended eggplant. Reserve the remaining half lemon in case you want to make it more tangy.

Add half cup of tahini to mixture.

Pound two cloves of peeled garlic in pestle and mortar (and half a hot pepper if you like heat), and add to eggplant mixture. Add salt to taste (I used approximately 1 tsp).

Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly and taste the Baba Ghannouj, adjusting the salt and lemon to your liking.

Place mixture in serving dish and garnish with olive oil, mint, and a dash of paprika or cayenne powder. Eat with toasted bread and enjoy - Sahtein! (To your health!)