I love love love roast veggies, especially eggplant and zucchini. Usually I keep the veg plain to make a ratatouille but was inspired the other day to try some Lebanese spicing and serve on a bed of hummus.
Baharat is a Lebanese spice blend I use all the time. It’s worth ordering some from a specialist spice merchant but if you don’t have any you know I’ve got you covered in the variations below 😉
Lebanese Roast Ratatouille with Hummus
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplant (aubergine)
- 3 small zucchini (courgette)
- 2 teaspoons baharat or 1 teaspoon each coriander and cumin
- 4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 300 g hummus (9oz)
- 1 bag salad leaves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250C (480F). Chop eggplant and zucchini into 1 inch chunks (2.5cm). Toss eggplant, zucchini, spices and oil in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt.
- Roast for 30 minutes, stirring about half way. Or until eggplant and zucchini are well cooked and starting to brown.
- Divide hummus between 2 plates. Top with roast veg and salad leaves.
Variations
pantry-friendly – veg = frozen cauliflower or broccoli. Serve with frozen spinach sauteed in butter.
no baharat – use 1 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika will work as a spanish alternative. Or use another spice blend like berbre spice or the Moroccan spice blend ‘Ras el Hanout’
low carb / no hummus / paleo – use my cauliflower hummus, broccoli hummus or lemon tahini sauce.
more substantial – use more hummus or serve with roast almonds or other nuts. Also see the carnivore option. Or toss in cooked chickpeas or lentils.
keto / ultra low carb – mayo or smashed avocado.
carnivore – add chorizo, bacon, sausages or chopped chicken thigh or breast fillets to roast with the veg.
more substantial (carb-lovers) – serve with cooked rice, quinoa or couscous. Or serve with warm flat bread or tortillas.
different veg – onion, capsicum (bell peppers), mushrooms, tomato (fresh or canned), cauliflower, broccoli.
herby – use coriander (cilantro), mint or parsley instead of the salad leaves.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
eggplant – will keep for a few weeks in a plastic bag in the fridge. For longer, sliced and rub with oil and grill until soft and browned. Can be frozen if needed.
zucchini – will keep for 2 weeks or longer in a plastic bag in the fridge. To keep it even longer, cook sliced zucchini in a little butter until just soft then store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
baharat / coriander / cumin / extra virgin olive oil – keep them in the pantry.
hummus – will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Can be frozen.
salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they won’t go slimy.
Prepare Ahead
Yes! Just cook as per the recipe but keep the hummus and salad. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm veg in a pan with a little oil then serve on a bed of the hummus with salad on top.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
i read through the recipe again, and i found that the ‘short on time’ suggests 250C and shortening cooking time, but the recipe itself already says 250C, which leaves me a bit confused what the actual cooking time is supposed to be at 250C
Glad you spotted the error Noa – what happened was the original recipe was for 200C and took about 45 minutes. So I recently changed the temp and cooking time to 250C and 30 minutes but forgot to update the short on time variation! Thanks for spotting the error. Sorry for the confusion 🙂
The eggplant skin was still a bit chewy even after 40 minutes in the oven. I added 2 chorizo, 3 large flat mushrooms and the stem from a head of broccoli (I microwaved the florets separately), and would have added capsicum and potato as well, but ran out of room in the pan. I didn’t have baharat, and used Cajun seasoning in its place, but the chorizo was fairly assertive, and the seasoning didn’t seem to contribute much to proceedings. Good.
Some eggplant have thicker skins and no matter how long you cook them they need some chewing Mark!
Glad you enjoyed.
Do you think leftover veg will freeze ok after cooking?
Absolutely Kelly!
Just last week I made a low carb ratatouille, and while it was nice, it had way too many ingredients (you have spoiled me rotten ?). Adding a few things from your variations would make it into an excellent meal. I definitely need to try this.
ooh I’m glad I’ve spoiled you Susan!
This one with spices and hummus is the business. If you wanted to you could add some cherry tomato and peppers to make it more complicated 🙂