Zucchini Moutabbal

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Hummus’s and baba ganoush’s cousin.

This Lebanese dip has got to be one of my favorites. However, not a lot of people know about its existence. My mom calls it “zucchini flesh moutabbal” because she would make it every time she carves out the zucchini flesh to make stuffed zucchinis. Instead of throwing out the flesh, she would cook it then make a delicious dip out of it. I missed this dip so much, and as I do not frequently stuff zucchinis here (since the zucchinis in France are larger than the ones in Lebanon), I figured why not simply peel them, chop them and cook them the same way! The result was outstandingly good!

Ingredients

For a dish of this dip, you need:

• 1 kg zucchini (or 3 medium large ones)
• 1 clove of garlic
• The juice of two lemons
• 100 g tahini
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Dried mint for garnishing

Procedure

The recipe is fairly easy!

1. Start by peeling the zucchinis with a peeler. If you’re making a large quantity, be sure to wear gloves as zucchini peel has a sticky substance that can stay on the hand and dry out like glue would.
2. Cut the peeled zucchini into small cubes. It does not matter if the cuts are uniform as everything will be cooked out in the end.
3. Add the diced zucchini to a pot, along with salt to draw out the moisture and some olive oil.
4. On a medium high heat, start mixing the zucchini in the pot. Make sure not to fry the zucchini pieces, we do not want any color on them!
5. Once the bottom of the pot has enough water drawn out of the zucchini, cover the pot, and let everything cook on a medium low heat for about 15 minutes or until every zucchini piece is soft. Stir from time to time to ensure uniform cooking.
6. Now, bring the heat up again and keep stirring to let the excess water evaporate. You should end up with a mushy like texture. Some excess water is okay but not a lot.
7. Let the mixture cool down (ideally to fridge temperature) then put it in a bowl along with the rest of the ingredients.
8. With a potato masher or a fork, start mixing everything together while mashing the zucchini pieces to get a creamier texture. DO NOT use a food processor as the long fibers in the zucchini gives the texture we want.
9. Put in a dish, sprinkle dried mint on top as well as some olive oil, and enjoy with pita bread, bread sticks, or anything else you would like to use this dip for!