Not too long ago I made some seasoned pulled lamb and when I hit the end of the week I had not had a chance to finish it all so I tossed what was left into the freezer to use later. As luck would have it I then came across a new dish called ali nazik on The Culinary Chase . The ali nazik is described as an ‘eggplant purée with lamb and yogurt’ and it is essentially a baba ghanoush, an eggplant salad, that is topped with seasoned ground lamb, yogurt and parsley. I figured that the seasoned pulled lamb would work perfectly on top of baba ghanoush and it sounded like the perfect way to finish that last bit of pulled lamb.
With the meat already made this meal was as easy as making the baba ghanoush and assembling everything. I could not resist adding some feta the dish and I did so by mixing it into the yogurt topping. I also sprinkled a touch smoked paprika onto the final product both for the visual appearance and to add a hint of heat and smokiness to the dish. To make it into a heartier meal I served it with some toasted whole wheat pita triangles which I used to scoop up the eggplant salad and lamb just like a dip.
Note: The seasoned ground lamb that I made for the Greek style nachos would also work well in this dish.
Baba Ghanoush Topped with Lamb and Yogurt
ingredients
- 1 batch baba ghanoush (see below)
- 1/2 pound seasoned pulled lamb or seasoned ground lamb
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 1/4 cup feta (crumbled, optional)
- 1 pinch smoked paprika (optional)
- 1 handful parsley (chopped)
- 4 pitas (optional)
directions
- Assemble and enjoy with pitas.
Baba Ghanoush
ingredients
- 2 pounds eggplant (about 1 large or 2 medium)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 lemon (juice)
- olive oil to taste
- 1 pinch cumin (toasted and ground, optional)
- 1 handful parsley (chopped)
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Pierce the eggplant with a fork a few times and grill or broil it until it is charred on all sides.
- When the eggplant is cool enough to work with, cut it open and scoop out the flesh.
- Blend the eggplant, garlic, tahini and lemon juice in a food processor.
- Add olive oil to bring it to the desired consistency.
- Mix in the cumin and parsley and season to taste.
- Serve with pitas and garnish with toasted sesame seeds, chopped pistachios, chopped kalamata olives, etc. as desired.
Hey! You know it is against my 'religion' to post a comment without trying it = but this sounds so good and just my cup of tea!!!
How wonderful! Baba ghanoush is one of my favorite treats in the whole world! I had no idea it was so simple to make! Your combonation of flavors looks irresistable! Maybe I'll give lamb another try. 😉
Sounds great, Kevin! I wish I could whip some of that up for my bedtime snack!
You wow me every time with your creations!
I just want you to know that though I may not have been commenting often, I follow you all the time through Foodgawker. I gawk at each of your creations.
I am constantly amazed with the variety of meals you come up with. I am now craving this meal but have none of the ingredients to make it. 😉 ENJOY!
~Karla
Baba ghanoush is one of my favorite things to order. Can't get enough of it. Bravo as always!
I do love Baba Ghanoush and it's great with the baby eggplants that are coming in. You are inspiring me to get off my decades-old Italian kick. oderiuLove the sweet, tenderlamb.
That dish is awesome! It contains everything I adore!
Cheers,
Rosa
Yes, yes, yes! That's all I cam say.
As always another great winner.
Lovely presentation, great combination of flavours.
Wishing you a great weekend ♥
I must make this! 🙂
Have a nice day!
Paula
Awesome! How can you go wrong with so many flavourful elements combining to form one dish? I want this now.
Normally Baba Ghanoush is a vegetarian option, but you have made it even more tempting with the additon with lamb!
I am seriously drooling over this! I bet the pulled lamb would also be great over a hummus plate!
This is totally up my alley! I love Middle eastern dishes like this. 🙂
You are so creative Kevin:D
Outstanding!
I've never had baba ghanoush before, it looks so good, way to get creative Kevin!
My problem is I put leftovers in the freezer and they go from there to the garbage because I don't know what it is!
love baba ghanough. its a prerequisite for anyone wanting to be my friend.lol.
Wow, that looks and sounds amazing! You've paired up some serious goodies here!
I like this creative version. In Turkish cooking Ali Nazik is prepared usually with minced meat, but again, every region have their own version. The basic difference between Babaganoush and Ali Nazik's eggplant base is we put tahini, lemon juice and olive oil along with barbequed eggplants, yogurt and garlic in Babaganoush. Whereas Ali Nazik base is only bbq eggplant, yogurt and garlic. Babaganoush is a meze, but Ali Nazik is a hot main dish.
For cubed meat, we have another eggplant base too actually which is called Hunkar Begendi (the sultan liked it). Where you again need to bbq eggplans, peel and chop. Then cook 2 spoonfull of flour in butter until golden and add 1 glass of milk (similar to bechamel souce) and then mix with eggplant puree. And then serve with lamb casarole. it's yummy too.
Selen: Thanks for all of the great info on roasted eggplant dishes! I enjoy all forms of BBQ eggplant and I often like to play around with the ingredients like the tahini and lemon. Hunkar Begendi is next on my list to try!