Balkan Roasted Eggplant Pepper Walnut Sauce 🍆✨

Description

Balkan Roasted Eggplant Pepper Walnut Sauce is a smoky, creamy sauce made with roasted eggplant, sweet red peppers, toasted walnuts, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and fresh herbs. It is rustic, rich, and spoonable, perfect with grilled food, flatbread, roasted potatoes, vegetable platters, or as a bold spread for a Balkan table.
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Hook ✨
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Smoky roasted eggplant, sweet peppers, toasted walnuts, garlic, lemon, and olive oil blend into a creamy Balkan sauce with deep flavor and real homemade character. 🍆

Ingredients

• Roasted vegetables 🍆
• 🍆 700 g eggplant, halved lengthwise (2 medium / 1.54 lb)
• 🌶️ 300 g red bell peppers (2 large / 10.6 oz)
• 🫒 30 ml olive oil (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🧂 4 g fine sea salt (¾ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• ⚫ 1 g black pepper (½ tsp / 0.03 oz)
• ‌
• Sauce base 🥣
• 🌰 90 g walnuts, toasted (¾ cup / 3.2 oz)
• 🧄 4 garlic cloves, roasted or finely grated (4 cloves / 0.7 oz)
• 🍋 25 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🫒 45 ml olive oil (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 3 g sweet paprika (1 tsp / 0.1 oz)
• 🌫️ 1 g smoked paprika (½ tsp / 0.03 oz)
• 🥛 60 g Greek yogurt or thick plain yogurt, optional (¼ cup / 2.1 oz)
• ‌
• Finish 🌿
• 🌿 15 g fresh parsley, chopped (⅓ cup / 0.5 oz)
• 🌿 8 g fresh dill, optional (2 tbsp / 0.28 oz)
• 🫒 10 ml olive oil for topping (2 tsp / 0.3 fl oz)
• 🌰 15 g walnuts, chopped, for topping (2 tbsp / 0.5 oz)
• 🌶️ 1 pinch sweet paprika for topping

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Roast the vegetables 🍆
2. ‌
3. Heat the oven to 220°C (428°F). Place eggplant and red peppers on a lined tray, brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 min until soft and lightly charred.
4. ‌
5. 2️⃣ Steam and peel 🌶️
6. ‌
7. Place the roasted peppers in a covered bowl for 10 min, then peel and remove seeds. Scoop the soft eggplant flesh from the skins and discard any bitter liquid.
8. ‌
9. 3️⃣ Toast the walnuts 🌰
10. ‌
11. Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 4 min, stirring often, until fragrant. Let them cool slightly before blending.
12. ‌
13. 4️⃣ Blend the sauce 🥣
14. ‌
15. Add eggplant flesh, peeled peppers, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, and yogurt if using to a food processor. Pulse until creamy but still slightly textured.
16. ‌
17. 5️⃣ Adjust the texture ✨
18. ‌
19. Taste and adjust with more salt, lemon juice, or olive oil. For a thicker spread, pulse less. For a smoother sauce, blend for 30 sec longer.
20. ‌
21. 6️⃣ Finish and serve 🌿
22. ‌
23. Spoon into a shallow bowl, top with parsley, dill if using, chopped walnuts, paprika, and a drizzle of olive oil. Rest for 10 min before serving so the flavors settle.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 15 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 39 min
🛋 Rest: 20 min
⏰ Total: 1 h 14 min

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