Pre-heat the oven to 200C/390F. Put the eggplant (cut side up) on the baking tray along with the peppers. Score a few lines down the cut side of the eggplant halves (without cutting through the skin), then poke a garlic clove into each. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the peppers are soft and charred and the eggplant is soft.
When ready, remove the eggplant from the tray and cover the peppers (still on the tray) with some aluminium foil. Leave the peppers to steam and cool for a while (this will help the peel come off easily). Meanwhile, remove the garlic from the eggplant, scoop the eggplant flesh out of its skins with a metal spoon and put it into a medium bowl.
Mash up the garlic with a fork and add that to the bowl, along with the tahini, tomato paste, lemon juice, parsley and salt and pepper. Then pull the peel off the peppers, slit them open with a sharp knife, scrape out the seeds and chop them into small pieces. Add these pieces to the bowl as well.
Mix the ingredients together well, then tip the dip into a serving bowl and garnish with a little more chopped parsley. Serve with toasted bread (or pitta bread) or tortilla or pitta chips.
Notes
This is really good spread thickly on toasted fresh crusty bread and topped with slices of feta cheese. Alternatively, you could crumble some feta cheese into or onto the dip.You could also mix it through pasta for a quick, tasty and nutritious meal.Feel free to leave the tahini out if you don't have it/can't find it easily (health food stores should have it if you can't find it in a local supermarket). The tahini just makes the dip slightly creamy in texture and gives it a faint nutty taste. The dip would still be delicious without it.