Giada's White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus: A Healthy, Tasty Appetizer

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs--time to make any Giada recipe we want to make. I wanted quick, easy, healthy and something good to nosh on so I chose her White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus. I loves me some hummus and this version pairs creamy cannellini beans with the eggplant for a dip that is tasty and full of fiber, potassium, iron, folate and phytonutrients.

You can find the recipe at Food Network here or there is a version on crostini in "Giada at Home" (pg 22).


White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis, 2008
(Makes 4 to 6 Servings)

1 (1 1/2 lb) eggplant or 3 Japanese eggplants, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1/3 cup
kosher salt, for seasoning, plus 1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1 clove garlic
1 hothouse cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and place an oven rack in the middle.

Place the eggplant on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooled eggplant, beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add 1/3 cup of olive oil until the mixture is creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place the hummus in a dipping bowl and serve with the cucumber slices. Alternatively, spoon the hummus over the cucumber slices and arrange on a serving platter.


Notes/Results: Creamy texture and great flavor with the roasted eggplant, garlic and lemon, it is basically like a cross between hummus and baba ghanoush and a great addition to my hummus collection. ;-) I made this to the recipe except that I roasted 3 cloves of garlic along with the eggplant--I almost always add extra garlic to recipes and why not roast it first since the oven is already going and get that great mellow garlic flavor. I served it with cucumbers (mine were local Japanese cucumbers) as Giada recommends in the recipe and it is a good pairing, but of course it is even more delicious with some good bread. It also makes an excellent sandwich spread. Always good to have another easy, delicious holiday appetizer recipe in your back pocket, and this one is definitely a keeper that I will make again.

You can see what the other IHCC participants made for Potluck by going to the post here and following the links.

Happy Thanksgiving!