Eggplant Walnut Dip

This is a great veggie dip that uses roasted eggplant and earthy walnuts.

IB_EggplantWalnutDip

Ingredients

  • 1 (475 g) eggplant, halved
  • 1 cup (110 g) toasted walnuts
  • ½ lemon peeled
  • ½ (10 g) Italian flat leaf parsley, stemmed
  • ¼ teaspoon (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil, optional
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 Tablespoons date syrup
  • salt and ground pepper, optional, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place eggplant on sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil. Place cut side down into oven for 35-45 minutes or until soft in the center. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Place the immersion blender into the middle of the cooking pot.
  2. Scoop center of the eggplant out into a small bowl and add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Submerge the immersion blender below the surface of the liquid or as close to the ingredients as possible.
  3. Start the blender on its lowest speed, moving around, including up and down, to blend the ingredients for approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until desired consistency is achieved.