This post is sponsored by Forte Chocolates. All opinions are mine alone.
First up in this week’s #Choctoberfest2018 fun is a lemon pepper white chocolate baba ganoush. I’ve adapted this recipe from Saveur - you can check out the original here. I used Forte Chocolate’s lemon & pepper in white chocolate to create this sweet and savory dip.
Forte Chocolates’ motto is “Celebrate Life Through Chocolate” and I couldn’t agree with them more. Chocolate just makes everything better! And in case you are curious and want to check out this great chocolate company (they are based in the PNW - they go to the top of my list for that reason alone!), you can get a buy 3 get 1 free discount on their chocolate bars by going to this page.
One of the things I really love about this chocolate is how versatile it is. While I would happily eat a full bar of the lemon & pepper in white chocolate by itself, it paired so well in this baba ganoush. I can also totally see eating the lemon & pepper in white chocolate bar as part of a cheese board and pairing it with a dry white wine.
As for the lemon pepper white chocolate baba ganoush, I highly recommend eating this with a good pita bread. I’d also slather it on a sandwich, perhaps with some salty cured meats. I might not be above just eating it on a spoon. It’s really that good.
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 1 medium sized eggplant
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon espelette pepper or smoked paprika
- 1 ounce Gusto's Lemon & Pepper in White Chocolate Bar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Drizzle the eggplant with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place in an oven proof dish. Cut off the very top of the garlic and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil. Roast the eggplant and garlic for 50 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and the garlic is golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- Melt the white chocolate over very low heat in a small saucepan, being sure to stir the entire time. Remove the chocolate and cool.
- Remove the eggplant from the peel. Remove the garlic cloves from the peel. Combine the eggplant and two cloves of the roasted garlic in a medium sized bowl. Set aside the remaining garlic for other uses.
- Combine all the remaining ingredients with the eggplant and garlic, including the melted white chocolate. Use an immersion blender or put in a food processor and process until all ingredients are combined into a thick paste.
- Enjoy!
