Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce

This recipe is dedicated to the lovely Christine for "helping" me buy the book (really, she just looked over my shoulder and said "I'd eat that" a half dozen times... that's good enough for me!) and to Sylvia Moon, because of this image she posted to tumblr a while ago:

...which is, in fact an altered cover of Plenty, and specifically, the image for the recipe this post is dedicated to. I laughed out loud when I saw this, especially because of all the beautiful things I intend to get to from Pinterest... which will happen, eventually. Right? Right. 

I made this recipe about a week ago, but unfortunately did something stupid to my back and the pain management and mobility issues that came from it has proved to be a huge distraction from life. Today I  was able to see my doctor and have much better solutions. So much so that I am feeling remarkably chipper for the first time in about a week, which inspired a lot of catching up on things I've been neglecting, including updating here and cooking up another recipe. So here we go... As usual, the ingredients are as listed in the book and the written description includes my observations and alterations.


Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce
(p. 110, Plenty)

Serves 4 as a starter

2 large and long eggplants
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs to garnish (regular thyme will do)
Maldon sea salt and black pepper
1 pomegranate
1 tsp za'atar

Sauce
9 tbsp buttermilk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 small garlic clove, crushed
pinch of salt

Assemble ingredients!

To begin, I halved the recipe as I was only feeding myself. The only substitution for this recipe was regular fleur de sel instead of the Maldon sea salt as I didn't have any at the time. That has since changed and I am excited. I know it probably sounds silly to be excited about salt, but the Maldon sea salt is worth picking up. It has a fairly unique shape and sharpness to it that I really enjoy. I was also excited to use the za'atar that I ordered a while ago from Silk Road - it has a really fascinating flavour profile. I have played with it a bit and like it on eggs, with wilted spinach, mixed in with garlic and chive biscuits, and even on popcorn. I think it's going to be a regular thing in my pantry.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the eggplant(s) in half lengthwise, cutting straight through the stem. The inclusion of the stalk is for show, you don't want to eat it. Using a sharp knife, make three to five parallel incisions along the cut side of each eggplant half - you want to go through the flesh, but not so deep that you pierce the skin on the other side. Repeat the cutting at a 45 degree angle so that you end up with a diamond shaped pattern.

Place the eggplant halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Brush each half with olive oil, and keep brushing them until all of the first measure of oil has been soaked up. This takes a little time, but the eggplants behave like thirsty little sponges, so keep at it. Once all of the oil has been absorbed, sprinkle with the thyme and some salt and pepper. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of them before I put them in the oven. My apologies.

Roast the eggplant for 35-40 minutes, until the flesh is soft, flavourful, and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

While the eggplant is in the oven, cut the pomegranate in half and seed it so that the arils are free of any of the white pith. There are a few ways of doing this, and I've discussed them here if you are interested.

To make the sauce, whisk together the yogurt, buttermilk, olive oil, garlic, and some salt. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if required, then keep cold until needed.

To serve, spoon plenty of the buttermilk sauce over the eggplant halves without covering the stalks, Sprinkle za'atar and a generous amount of the pomegranate seeds over top of the sauce and garnish with the reserved thyme. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

Then enjoy!

A few notes: You definitely want a ripe and juicy pomegranate for this recipe. Mine was just slightly past its prime and it was noticeable because there are so few ingredients comprising the dish. Also, if you enjoy the flavour of the za'atar, you may want to sprinkle the eggplants with a bit of it before they go in for roasting. I also finely chopped my garlic rather than leaving the crushed clove floating in the sauce bowl. If you don't have lemon thyme, I'd add ~1/4 tsp grated lemon zest to the thyme leaves you are using, just to add that flavour accent, or use a citrus-infused olive oil if you have one on hand. This was surprisingly easy to make, and incredibly good. I will definitely make this again and possibly serve it with the Pomegranate Barley Salad for a more robust meal.