Lauren's Eggplant Spread

I love eggplant.  Always have.  One of those things that's typically an acquired taste.  But, in my case, Mom made an eggplant casserole that I loved.  Still do.  Oh, and I love Harriet Barclay's eggplant casserole.  That's another funny story.  There are three Barclay kids.  The eldest was in my class in high school and wound up being a sorority sister.  The middle dated my brother in high school.  And, the youngest is now a financial planner like I am.  All are Facebook friends.  Not too long ago one of them posted some photos of a family lobster fest.  It reminded me of how much I love their mom's eggplant casserole so I left a note to that effect.  Their unanimous reaction - ewwww, eggplant. 

When Lauren told me about this recipe, my mind immediately went to the container of eggplant slices leftover from roasted eggplant a few days ago.  What a great way to use it up!  Again, since the goal was to get dinner on the table and get off this ankle, I didn't measure.  We had this with the garbanzo bean salad and loved both.  This is not the kind of dish you eat prior to a job interview.  You will reek of garlic.  But, oh, you'll have so much fun getting there!!!  Yes, I edited the recipe a bit.  Lauren adds some lemon juice, oregano and diced onion.  I tasted it after I did the initial pulse and it was so fantastic I just quit at what I had.

Lauren's Eggplant Spread

Ingredients:

1 eggplant
olive oil
1/4 c sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
4 cloves garlic
1-2 T olive oil

Directions:

Slice the eggplant about 1/2" thick.  Do not peel it.  Brush it lightly with olive oil and roast it at 500 for about 20 minutes or until it is VERY soft.  Put the eggplant in the bowl of a food processor and add the sundried tomatoes and the garlic.  Pulse until it is well blended.  Slowly pour in the olive oil as the processor is running.  We served this with crackers, on fresh snow peas and plain.