Pre-heat the broiler in the oven. Wash the eggplants with their skins. Line your baking sheet with baking paper or aluminum foil. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and put them cut-side down on the baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in the oven on the top shelf. Leave it 20 minutes or until the flesh is softened and ready to separate from the skins.

Let the eggplants cool a few minutes. Watch out because the eggplants can be extremely hot directly out of the oven. Then place them in a colander and scoop the eggplant flesh out of the skins with a spoon. Let the eggplants drain in the colander up to an hour. I usually do not wait all this time. Instead I will press the eggplant flesh with a wooden spoon to push out extra liquid. If you want, save the drained liquid in the bowl to add to a soup, other dishes, or even a little back in the baba ganoush if you think it needs more liquid.

Take out a bowl and put the tahini paste on the bottom. Squeeze your lemons. Add the lemon juice to the tahini paste and mix until diluted. The consistency should be like pancake batter (see photo). If it is too thick add more lemon juice.

Add the eggplant flesh and then the pressed garlic cloves, cumin, salt and pepper. I usually do not add olive oil. If you choose to add the olive oil you could add it now or at the next step before serving.

The baba ganoush is best when you let it rest about 1 hour before serving. During this time you can prepare the toppings. At time of serving add the chopped parsley and other toppings to the baba ganoush and serve. As mentioned above, you can add the extra virgin olive oil at this point if you choose.