Bulgarian-Style Eggplant Cream

Ingredients

• 1 kg eggplant
• 1 small onion
• 2 tsp parsley
• 2 sprigs Mint
• 4 Garlic cloves
• Lemon juice
• Salt
• 125 ml olive oil
• white pepper
• mint (for garnish)
• paprika powder (spicy)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C with fan and top heat.

2. 2.

   Wash, dry and prick the eggplants several times with a fork. Roast in the oven until the skin blisters, wrinkles and the flesh feels soft (about 20 minutes). Let cool slightly, then peel off the skin, remove the stem ends. Roughly chop the cooled flesh, then puree it or mash it finely with a fork. Peel and roughly chop the onion, peel the garlic, combine onion, parsley, mint and garlic in a blender, add 4 tbsp olive oil and blend well. Mix into the eggplant purée. Stir in just enough of the remaining olive oil to create a creamy paste. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

3. 3.

   Before serving, mix thoroughly again. Garnish with mint leaves and sprinkle with spicy paprika.