Berenjas Picantes

Spicy Eggplant Puree

Arabic spreads like chickpea hummus and eggplant baba ghanoush are pretty common sightings at London cafés and restaurants. When I first arrived in London, they seemed very exotic, more so because they were covered in really good olive oil. Canola oil is the workhorse oil in most Peruvian home kitchens, but when I first started cooking with olive oil, I was an instant convert. This recipe is my take on a spicy eggplant puree with fiery rocoto peppers. It’s also an excuse to pour on more really good olive oil.

Eggplant is una esponja, a sponge. It soaks up all of the flavors you offer it, but still holds on to its own character—just what a good chef hopes to accomplish in his cooking. Rocoto peppers really wake up the flavors in eggplant, but ají amarillo paste also works well if that’s what you have in the refrigerator.

• 2 medium Japanese or Chinese eggplants, or 1 small globe eggplant (1 pound), grilled or roasted and charred (see page 186)
• 1 teaspoon pureed garlic (page 37), or finely minced
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 2 teaspoons rocoto paste, store-bought or homemade (page 34) plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more as needed
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• Really good extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• A few pinches of smoked paprika
• 3 or 4 fresh parsley leaves, chopped
• Plenty of thinly sliced grilled or broiled crusty bread or crackers, for serving

1 Peel the cooked eggplants in a bowl of cold water, discard the skins, and lightly dry the flesh on a paper towel (you should have about 1 cup). Place the flesh in a blender with the garlic, tahini, rocoto paste, lime juice, and salt, and puree until smooth. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you may need to stir the mixture once or twice to get things going. Taste, and add more rocoto paste, lime juice, or salt, if you’d like.

2 Transfer the puree to a wide, shallow serving bowl and pour olive oil generously over the top. Don’t be shy. The oil should cover the eggplant puree. Sprinkle the paprika and the chopped parsley over the puree and serve it with the grilled bread.