I cannot watch people eat another tub of bland, gritty, mass-produced grocery store hummus. There is an entire world of dips out there, and the absolute king of them all is Zaalouk. It is a smoky, heavily spiced Moroccan blend of roasted eggplants and jammy tomatoes.

Making it from scratch involves roasting an eggplant over an open flame for 45 minutes, peeling it, and simmering it down. That's beautiful, but it's not happening right now. I have a 5-minute hack that bypasses the roasting entirely, and nobody will ever know you cheated.

The Fire-Roasted Cheat Code

We are going to use high-quality, jarred fire-roasted eggplant (or a clean baba ganoush without tahini) as our base. The smoky flavor is already built in. All we have to do is build the classic Moroccan flavor profile in a pan and fold the eggplant into it. It is stupidly fast and intensely delicious.

The Build

  • 1 Jar (16oz) Roasted Eggplant Spread: Look for one where the only ingredients are eggplant, salt, and maybe a little oil. Do not buy the ones heavily spiked with mayonnaise or tahini.
  • 1/2 Cup Crushed Tomatoes: Good quality canned tomatoes.
  • 2 Cloves Garlic: Grated, not minced. You want it to melt into the oil.
  • 1 tsp Cumin & 1 tsp Smoked Paprika: The Moroccan baseline.
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Plus more for finishing.

The 5-Minute Fry

  1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add the grated garlic, cumin, and smoked paprika. Stir continuously for exactly 30 seconds. Do not let the garlic brown, or it will ruin the dip.
  3. Dump in the crushed tomatoes. It will splatter. Stir it into the spiced oil and let it aggressively bubble for 1 minute until it thickens slightly into a jam.
  4. Turn the heat down to low. Fold in the entire jar of roasted eggplant.
  5. Use the back of your spoon to mash the tomato jam and the eggplant together until it's cohesive and heated through. This takes about two minutes.
  6. Remove from heat. Season heavily with salt.

Pour it into a shallow bowl, carve a little moat into it with your spoon, and flood that moat with a really good olive oil. Garnish with some fresh parsley. Serve it warm with crusty bread. It is smoky, rich, and destroys hummus entirely.