Tomato Salad With Smoky Eggplant Flatbread

By David Tanis

Published August 9, 2022

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 to 40 minutes
Rating
4(221)
Comments
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Buy lavash or pita at a local Middle Eastern market, heat the flatbreads in a skillet or toaster oven, and smear them with this delicious eggplant spread, enriched with spices and tahini and pleasantly smoky from a cook over an open flame. Serve the flatbreads with this Turkish-style tomato salad, a variation on one I learned in Istanbul from the Turkish chef Gamze Ineceli. Hers is more traditional — finely chopped tomato is customary — but you can also choose the colorful cherry tomatoes at the market and cut them in halves or quarters.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • 1 large eggplant (about 1 pound)

  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice

  • 2 tablespoons tahini

  • 2 small garlic cloves, grated

  • 2 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

  • ½ teaspoon toasted ground cumin

  • Pinch of ground cayenne

  • Pinch of ground cinnamon

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 small red onion, finely diced

  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

  • ½ teaspoon sumac 

  • 3 cups chopped tomatoes, preferably a mix of larger multicolored tomatoes and cherry tomatoes (about 1 pound)

  • ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

  • Warm lavash or pita bread, for serving

  • 3 tablespoons chopped dill, for garnish

  • 3 tablespoons parsley, for garnish

  • 3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

24 grams carbs; 1 milligram cholesterol; 271 calories; 9 grams monosaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 19 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 545 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 12 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Set the whole, unpeeled eggplant directly over a bed of hot coals, over the open flame of a gas burner at full blast or under the broiler. With a paring knife or skewer, poke a few holes into the eggplant to allow steam to escape. Let the skin of the eggplant blacken and blister, turning the eggplant continuously until it is soft, collapsed and completely charred, about 15 to 20 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Set the cooked eggplant on a chopping board, and, when cool enough to handle, cut in half from top to bottom. Let cool to room temperature (about 15 minutes), then scoop out flesh with a spoon, discarding any large seed pockets. Tear or roughly chop eggplant flesh and put in a medium bowl.

  3. Step 3

    Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, tahini, garlic, yogurt, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt and pepper. Beat mixture with a fork, leaving it somewhat rough. Set aside to let flavors meld at room temperature, then taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a serving dish.

  4. Step 4

    Put diced onion in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add pomegranate molasses, sumac and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

  5. Step 5

    Add chopped tomatoes and fold into onion mixture, sprinkling with a bit more salt, if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and top with walnuts.

  6. Step 6

    Spread eggplant mixture on pieces of warm lavash or pita, keeping the edges clear, and arrange on a platter. Spoon some of the tomato mixture onto each piece. Sprinkle dill, parsley and mint liberally over it all.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
221 user ratings
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Comments

kate

Condo here - no gas flame or grill - but a tip from Mark Bittman’s Baingan Bharta - use a preheated blistering hot cast iron skillet in the oven to get a similar effect.

kate

Reply to Jess - I do not use broiler but the Baingan Bharta recipe says you can do either once you put it in the super hot pan - roast or broil. It collapses just like on the grill - cool and scrape the pulp from the skin.

Saraswati

Absolutely delicious, a keeper! Complex, fresh, mix of crispness, velvetiness, and choppyness. Used organic heirloom tomatoes of different colors that melted in the mouth. Avoid making the tomato salad too early as it'll leach more juices than optimal. Used garlic naan.

Diana

The flavors and textures are out of this world. One of my new top three favorite eggplant dishes, perfect for the summer when tomatoes are also ripening. I put it on a homemade flatbread and never wanted the meal to end.

BJ

The eggplant preparation is very similar to that used for chopped eggplant, a recipe my mother made when I was a child (and later). We use only salt, pepper, onion and a little oil to make the spread. I can see adding garlic and lemon juice, but not anything sweet. The eggplant can be placed directly on the gas burner if you have one. I don't, so I cook in the microwave. Fewer dishes to clean. I give my mother's recipe a 5, but the idea of adding sweetener turns me off.

Alexandra M.

I cook the eggplants in the air fryer on 400 degrees, turn every 10 minutes until it's done, about 25 minutes. Quick and easy. You can chop everything else while it's cooking in the air fryer.

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