Eggplant and Okra Dip

Since what I cook is almost always inspired by what arrives in my CSA box, my guests for drinks were faced with a riff on Zaalouk, a smoky, spicy Moroccan cooked eggplant and tomato salad, with the addition of okra because it too was in my veggie box and needed someplace to go. If you hate okra, feel free to skip it, keeping in mind that roasting it gets rid of any sliminess, which is usually the reason people hate it to begin with.

I roasted the vegetables first, then cooked them down with garlic, tomato concentrate, cumin and paprika before roughly mashing everything together. The okra disappears surprisingly happily into the mixture, adding body without distracting from the eggplant, which remains very much the main event.

I finished the dip with a little rose harissa and a drizzle of olive oil and served it at room temperature with my kitchen workhorse constant Yogurt Flatbreads. Regular harissa is perfectly fine if that is what you have. Chopped cilantro would also have been nice scattered over the top, had I remembered it.

Makes about 2 cups.

1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 cup okra, cut into 1/2-inch rounds

1 medium heirloom tomato, cut into rough chunks

2 cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 Tbsp tomato concentrate

4 Tbsps olive oil, divided

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp rose harissa, or regular harissa

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425.

Put the eggplant, okra, tomato and unpeeled garlic cloves on a sheet pan. Toss the vegetables with two tablespoons of the olive oil and some salt and spread everything out into a single layer. Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring the eggplant, okra and tomato once along the way, until the eggplant is completely soft, the okra is tender and the vegetables have browned in places.

Remove the garlic and tomato from the roasting tray. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the roasted garlic cloves, tomato concentrate, cumin and paprika and cook briefly, stirring, until the tomato concentrate darkens slightly and the spices are fragrant. Add the roasted tomato pieces and any pan juices and continue cooking, stirring and breaking it down, until the mixture is soft, concentrated and jammy.

Remove the garlic cloves from the pan, mash them thoroughly with a fork and return them to the tomato mixture. Add the roasted eggplant and okra and roughly mash everything together with a potato masher. You are looking for a thick, textured dip rather than a smooth purée, so don't get carried away.

Continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until any excess liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough to scoop up with a piece of flatbread. Taste and adjust the salt.

Remove from the heat and stir in the rose harissa. Taste and add more if you want more of a kick. Let the dip cool to room temperature, drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve with flatbreads or warm pita breads.

Any leftovers make an excellent omelet filling, along with some crumbled feta or goat's cheese. Or could be used as a spread in a chicken sandwich, as an exciting alternative to the more plebeian mayonnaise.