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Zaalouk has become a staple whenever I serve a spread of meze (little bites). The way to enjoy it is to dip a piece of bread torn off from a freshly baked loaf into the Zaalouk.
It tastes tangy (from the tomatoes) and slightly smoky as the eggplants (aubergines) are grilled until the skins are well charred. The softened eggplant is then scraped off its blackened skin and simmered with tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, coriander and a mix of cumin, allspice and paprika.
If you have not had this before, you can imagine with the combination of herbs and spices, it will and it does taste wonderfully different from conventional dips. You should know that Zaalouk is often referred to as a 'cooked salad' and not a dip. Actually, you just need to know it is delicious.
In the blog post preceding this one, I introduced the idea of serving a selection of 'small bites' before your main course as a sensible way of entertaining during year-end parties when you are more likely to cater to a larger group.
Putting out a plate or two of small bites also serves as a means to buy you time to finish preparing the rest of your courses and to just free yourself somewhat from the kitchen. Read more on that in my introductory post, Meze, A Selection Of Wonderful Little Bites.
This post then marks the start of my series on meze, little bites, finger foods, appetisers, hors d'oeuvres... whatever you like to call them.
Zaalouk - Moroccan Roasted Eggplants and Tomatoes; Kabis - Lebanese Pickled Turnips & Beets; Moroccan inspired Radish, Bell Peppers and Mint Salad; Flash Fried Sweet Mini Bell Peppers.
Second row:
Greek inspired Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta; Hummus with Spiced Angus Beef Slices; Beef Kafta - Lebanese inspired Meatballs.
Third row:
ZAALOUK, MOROCCAN GRILLED EGGPLANTS AND TOMATOES
Prep:
|
5 minutes
|
Cook: | 30 to 40 minutes |
Inactive: | - |
Level: | Easy |
Makes: | 3 cups |
Oven Temperature: | - |
Can recipe be doubled? | Yes |
Make ahead? | Up to 3 days. Keep covered and refrigerated. |
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for some light sauteing and a little more oil, 1 to 2 Tablespoons to drizzle over the Zaalouk before serving.
610g (1.3 lbs) eggplant/aubergine
I use the long slender purple coloured ones so that I don't have to worry about bitterness or any extra large seeds.
411g 14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
Most other recipes for Zaalouk will call for fresh tomatoes. Unfortunately, good fresh tomatoes are hard to come by locally. Unless you have access to premium tomatoes, buy premium canned tomatoes instead and you will get better results from those canned ones than the often 'flavourless' fresh ones.
4 garlic, minced
3 Tablespoon Italian parsley, cut finely
3 Tablespoon coriander, cut finely
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
Start with 1/4 teaspoon and adjust according to your preference.
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon allspice powder (or you can substitute with cinnamon powder)
Start with 1/4 teaspoon and adjust according to your preference.
Allspice is also referred to as Jamaican Pepper and I have seen it labelled as Pimento Berries. The berries look like dried juniper berries and are slightly larger than a black pepper seed (without the wrinkles). It taste like a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Start with 1/4 teaspoon and adjust according to your preference.
Allspice is also referred to as Jamaican Pepper and I have seen it labelled as Pimento Berries. The berries look like dried juniper berries and are slightly larger than a black pepper seed (without the wrinkles). It taste like a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Conventional Zaalouk recipes do not ask for allspice powder but I like the extra flavour that it adds to my Zaalouk.
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Cut off the stalks from the eggplants.
Grill the eggplants until the insides are soft and the skins are charred all round.
Cool and peel back the blackened skins and use a spoon to scrape off all the bits of flesh from under the skins. Those slightly charred bits stuck there have the smokey flavour that you want. Cut the inner flesh into small chunks. Set aside.
Do use both coriander, the one on the left with the more delicate leaves and the Italian parsley, the one on the right. They do not taste quite the same and there is a nice balance of flavours when you use both coriander and Italian parsley. Cut finely and set aside.
Add the 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a deep saucepan or pot. Saute the diced onions lightly to soften. Now add everything else in. Yes, everything. Easy isn't it? Stir occasionally and break up the tomatoes and eggplants against the sides of the pot with a wooden spoon. Simmer on medium for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, the Zaalouk should look like the one I cooked pictured below. Taste to adjust the seasoning and to check that all the vegetables and herbs have softened. If it needs more cooking time, simmer for a further 5 to 10 minutes. Cool before serving.
To serve, pour into a serving dish with a 1" (2.5 cm) depth. Create a little well with the back of a spoon. Pour the reserved 1 to 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil into the well. Garnish if you like with coriander or parsley leaves.
Serve with bread or be naughty and bring out the tortilla chips.
Tips
- This is one of those dishes that taste just as well on the first day, the second day and even into the third day. So certainly consider making this in advance to lighten your cooking load.
- To encourage you to use canned tomatoes (but they do have to be of a premium quality), I had cooked two separate lots of Zaalouk, one with fresh tomatoes and the other with canned tomatoes. That top photograph of Zaalouk was cooked using canned tomatoes. It has a lovely fresh look to it and it taste as lovely as it looks. The Zaalouk that is featured in the photograph of meze was cooked with the best fresh tomatoes I could find locally (sadly they often fall short on flavour), the colour is not as vibrant and I much prefer the taste made with canned tomatoes. You compare and decide for yourself.
- When I am not serving Zaalouk as part of a meze, I usually serve it with tortilla chips and don't bother about the flat bread or pita. Tortilla chips and salsa has become a rather predictable pairing, try replacing it with Zaalouk instead.
- Leftover Zaalouk tastes very, very good toss with spaghetti.
- Any other leftover Zaalouk can be used as a sauce to simmer away with any leftover beef kefta (they are meatballs - take a look at the picture of meze above), a recipe that I will be posting fairly soon.
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Flashed Fried Sweet Mini Bell Peppers. I call them 'flashed fried' because the peppers are literally fried over super high heat for one to two minutes! How quick and simple is that? And, they are good!
Here are the recipes I have posted:
- Zaalouk, Roasted Eggplants and Peppers
- Flash Fried Sweet Mini Bell Peppers
- Labneh - Lebanese Drained Yogurt Drizzled With Extra Virgin Olive Oil And Clover Honey
- Greek inspired Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta
- Fresh Figs With Peppered Ricotta
- Kabis - Lebanese Pickled Turnips and Beets
- Hummus with Spiced Angus Beef Slices
- Moroccan inspired Radish, Bell Peppers and Mint Salad
- Beef Kafta - Lebanese inspired Meatballs
- Moroccan inspired Roasted Green Bell Peppers With Tomatoes and Olives
- Moroccan inspired Wholemeal Round Loaf.
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