Malidzano Eggplant Spread

traditional melidzano does not use walnuts, it uses breadcrumbs. Also, you should add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Leave out one of the cloves of garlic. Otherwise, this is great.

I have had an eggplant spread at a Romanian friend's house ... this was not even close to as good. First of all, WAY too garlicky..and I like garlic. Secondly, and maybe most importantly, the presentation of this dish is poor... the color of the finished product was a dark greenish gray... luckily I didn't have company to feed it to! I did ask my Romanian friends how they made theirs and basically it was the same, without the cheese and nuts. But for whatever reason this just didn't cut it for me. Sorry.

Really loved this recipe Samovila! I threw everything into my food processor expect for the feta as I wanted to be able to see the cheese crumbles throughout the spread. Also, I suggest piercing the eggplants before baking them. I didn't and all of a sudden I heard a "BOOM"! When I opened the oven, one of the eggplants had exploded! I'm assuming the moisture is what made it pop. Kind of like popcorn I suppose. Pretty funny; saved me from having to cut it open I guess. Made pita chips to serve with this different and delicious dip. Thanks so much!

So the original recipe didn't sound very appealing, however with some modifications my entire beach-family raved about this app. Y'all, roast the garlic while you are roasting the eggplant to tame the "garlic-y" twang. I only used 2, to test, but from now on I will use the full 4 cloves. I added lemon zest and lemon juice to add an extra depth of flavor. I also added Cavender's Greek Seasoning for a bit of zip. I did not peel my eggplant because they were so young and tender. And finally I used a fresh, organic cracked pepper and sea salt goat cheese. Everyone LOVED this appetizer, and with these modifications I will be sure to make it again.

My fiancee and I LOVED this spread! The flavor was outstanding and, aside from the longish bake time, it was a cinch to make. I will definitely make this for our next family gathering...maybe add some lemon juice just to see what happens? Thanks for the great recipe!

Was looking for something a bit different for the eggplant in the fridge. I had all these items in the house..... WAS GREAT. I also had a bit of pesto and hummos leftovers and added about tablespoon and a half of each. Family loved it. Will bring it to the next gathering.

So, I didn't keep to the recipe, but I thought this was a lovely idea. I had leftover grilled eggplant (soaked in garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and decided to use that to make this recipe. I blended that with the feta and walnuts, and it made such a beautiful, tasty dip. We had a nice color to our dip, probably because we left the skin on.

I have no idea what malidzano is supposed to taste like but this was delicious. It does make alot so I will cut it to 1/3 recipe next time. Very easy and enjoyed by everyone, even non eggplant eaters. Thanks so much!

This was a great spread and can be easily altered to suit one's taste. Thanks!

I left the skin on the eggplant and I must say that I LOVED this dip. It was WONDERFUL. Thank you very much.

I replaced the eggplant with zucchini, the feta with cheddar, and the walnuts with peanuts, but...JUST KIDDING! I didn't change a thing, this my new favorite use of eggplant! Thanks!

I grilled my eggplant till soft and it gave it a nice smoky taste. I made it again today and used pine nuts in lieu of walnuts and added a little smoked paprika--it is delicious!

I was looking for something similar to a very flavorful roasted eggplant dip I made some time ago, but for which I have since lost the recipe. This wasn't it. While this is not bad, I found the garlic heavily overwhelmed the flavor of the smoky-sweet eggplant. The other flavors of the cheese, nuts, and olive oil just got lost entirely. Further, I found the texture to be too thick for my taste. Perhaps this was due to "operator error," though I tried to follow the recipe closely. Overall, I think this spread would be improved if some "tweaking" were done to balance the flavors more while lightening the texture a bit.

We really enjoyed this dip

I thought this was going to be a lot better then it was. There was way too much garlic, and I normally love a lot of garlic. It also just tasted pretty bland, I kept trying to add more salt and it didn't really help. I finally added lemon juice and that helped a little bit. Overall I was disappointed.

I don't like eggplant but Husband does, and he really enjoyed this spread. I halved the recipe, and it still made A LOT! It is also INCREDIBLY garlicky - almost too much! As others have noted, a splash of fresh lemon juice adds a lot to the flavor. I'll probably make this again with a couple of modifications. Thanks!

Even my 2 yr old daughter enjoyed this one. I'm a garlic lover and agree that 4 is too many. I used 3 and it was plenty. Everyone loved it.

I thought this was pretty tasty. I don't measure just add to taste, but added some roated red pepper and paprika and turned out yummy.

We loved this dish. With so many eggplant from our garden we're always looking for good recipes. Used as dip for corn chips. Yummmm.

I used 2 eggplants and decreased the olive oil slightly and added just under 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts. Also after letting the eggplant cool, I peeled it and cut it into cubes prior to chopping in the food processor. I love garlic and even 1 large clove was very strong for this recipe. My husband loved it and although the end result was not very pretty, it tasted great and we served it with pita chips. We will definitely serve this again.

Delicious! I used almonds instead of walnuts and added lemon juice. I'm not sure about the proportions - I used one large eggplant and one clove of garlic.

We loved this! I cut it back to only using one eggplant and it was wonderful. We're making again for a party this weekend. Thanks for the unique recipe!

This was pretty good but I didn't have feta or walnuts on hand so I substituted Gorgonzola and bread crumbs. I also added 1 T lemon juice.

At first I made it without the lemon that was suggested. I used the bread crumbs that were suggested as "tradtional" because my daughter does not like walnuts. I made 1/3 of a batch (1 eggplant worth) not sure how this would come out. It was eh Ok/a bit bland. I did use 2 cloves of garlic (would have been = to 6 for the whole batch ) BUT I used roasted garlic and not fresh....so overpowered with garlic was not a problem. It was just kinda dull. Then I remembered a bunch of posters saying it needed lemon juice. I added 1 tsp (for my 1/3 batch...so would be 1 TB for a whole batch) and that made a big difference. It really does NEED the lemon juice.

This is different. I used Krafts Mediteranian Crumble cheese. I really liked this. My husband just thought it was ok. I spead it on celery and jicama. Thanks for the recipe.

I was not happy with how this turned out. It was too much effort for something that I didn't think looked or tasted very good.

I really enjoyed this! It was different but tasty. I used the recommendations of Georgia.

It is definitely interesting. I made it as the recipe was written. I think my food processor was too powerful so to achieve a chunky consistency, I folded in the feta cheese. I think it would be perfect side by side with some Kalmata olives, dates and of course pitas. I will make again, it's gluten free and pretty neutral so perfect for gatherings.