Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce

The deepness of roasted eggplant meets the cool, tanginess of yogurt and sharpness of pomegranates. Every bite celebrates warm and cold and creamy and crunchy. It’s a fail-proof beauty, even if you are among the most artistically challenged.

This dish Is the perfect bridge to fall. If you eat seasonally, there’s a pretty small window that’s possible because eggplant is a late summer crop and pomegranates are a fall crop. Keep an eye on these ingredients, and when both are available, snatch them up real quick!

This is the first Ottolenghi recipe I tried from Plenty – highly likely because of how beautiful it is. Since I don’t keep buttermilk on hand, I sub in a combination of yogurt and milk which are staples in our house. I reflected this substitution in the recipe below. I also made a few other minor adjustments in the directions.

Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce Ingredients
2 large eggplants
1.5 tsp salt
¾ c Greek yogurt
6 Tbl whole milk
1 ½ Tbl olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/3 c olive oil
1 ½ tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp za’atar
1 large pomegranate (you want about 1/3 c of perils on each eggplant half)
¼ c roasted sunflower seeds or pinon nuts

Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce Directions
Slice the eggplants in half long ways. You can slice off the stem first, but it’s prettier if you leave it on. Take a sharp knife and make incisions on a 45 degree angle every 1” into the flesh, do not pierce the skin. Turn the eggplant 180 degrees and repeat so you should have diamonds.

Evenly salt (1 ½ tsp) each eggplant half. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make the sauce.
Add ¾ c Greek yogurt to a jar. Add 2 Tbl of whole milk and stir until it’s incorporated. Repeat two more times. I find this method is easy to reduce lumps. Add 1 ½ Tbl olive oil and stir until well incorporated. If you want the sauce thinner, add more milk, if you want it thicker, add yogurt. The sauce should be thin enough to spread easily, but thick enough that you can get a thick coating on the eggplant.

Slice off the dry end of the garlic clove. Lay the knife flat on top of the clove, make a fist with your non-dominant hand (your dominant hand is holding the knife handle), and give a good whack with the pinky side of the fist. The skin should pop off and clove should be smashed. Remove the paper. Take a knife and slice the garlic as thin as possible, turn the garlic and slice crossways. Rock the knife back and forth until it’s a fine mince. Add it to the jar and give it a quick stir.

Take a paper towel and dab the eggplant to remove excess moisture. Drizzle 1/3 c of olive oil on the eggplant flesh. Sprinkle 1 ½ tsp thyme leaves, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp of za’atar on the eggplant halves.

Peel the pomegranate. Cut the pomegranate around the equator. Hold it cut down side with your thumbs on the exterior and remaining fingers on the flesh. Press your thumbs down while rotating your wrists outward. The skin should tear a little. Rotate the pomegranate 90 degrees and repeat. Over a large bowl, out the halve flesh side down in your non-dominate hand. Use a wood spoon in your dominate hand to smack the exterior several times. Some of the perils will fall out. Pick out the remaining seeds with your fingers. Even though all of the seeds didn’t fall out, they should be loose. I always place the bowl in my sink while I clean the pomegranates. It helps contain the splashes.

Once the eggplant is finished cooking, top it with yogurt sauce, sprinkle on pomegranate seeds, and sunflower seeds or pinon nuts if you’re using them.

Notes
You can also make the sauce in a bowl. Add all the ingredients except garlic and whisk. I prefer the jar route because I store the sauce in a jar and eliminates the need for additional dishes.

If you have regular yogurt (not Greek), use a higher ratio of yogurt to milk.

If you don’t have za’atar, there’s no need to run out and buy it. You probably won’t use it often enough and it would lose flavor. That would just be really sad. Za’atar is a mix of spices and the flavor can vary quite a bit (think pumpkin pie spice and the variety of flavors). I recommend subbing in sesame seeds, oregano, thyme, and sumac.

You can top this dish with a couple of poached eggs and call it a meal.