Grilled Eggplant Pita with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

A complete pita experience built from scratch: pillowy homemade pita baked on a screaming-hot pizza stone, topped with smoky charred eggplant, creamy roasted red pepper hummus, and a silky lemon-tahini sauce. Fresh veggies and herbs round it all out.

Ingredients

For the pita bread (makes 8):

• 240 g warm water (≈43°C)
• 7 g active dry yeast
• 4 g sugar
• 375 g bread flour
• 9 g salt
• 27 g olive oil

For the roasted red pepper hummus:

• 2 cans (each 15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp. toasted ground cumin seed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt, to taste

For the grilled eggplant:

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Black pepper, to taste

For the lemon-tahini sauce:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 2–4 tbsp cold water
• Pinch of salt

Fillings:

• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber

Instructions

Make the pita:

1. Stir yeast and sugar into the warm water. Let sit ~10 min until foamy.
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and oil; mix to a shaggy dough.
3. Knead 8–10 min until smooth and elastic—soft but not sticky.
4. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and rise until doubled (~1.5 hrs).
5. Punch down, divide into 8 balls (~80 g each), cover and rest 15 min.
6. Preheat the pizza oven so the stone is ~370–425°C and fully heat-soaked.
7. Roll each ball to ~15 cm wide and 6 mm thick, keeping the thickness even.
8. Slide onto the hot stone; it should balloon in 30–60 sec. Flip if needed, pull once puffed and lightly spotted.
9. Stack under a towel to keep soft.

Make the hummus:

10. In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, garlic, bell pepper, lemon juice, tahini, paprika and cumin and pulse until the mixture just comes together.
11. With the processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until incorporated.
12. Season with salt and set aside.

Grill the eggplant:

13. Preheat grill to medium-high. Brush eggplant with olive oil and season with salt, cumin, paprika, and pepper.
14. Grill eggplant slices 3–4 min per side until tender and charred.

Make the lemon-tahini sauce:

15. In a small bowl, whisk tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Slowly whisk in water until smooth.

Assemble:

16. Warm pitas slightly. Spread with hummus, top with grilled eggplant, cucumber, and drizzle with tahini sauce.