Baba Ghanoush and Pita

The height of summer means that in addition to bounties of tomatoes and peppers, it's also eggplant season. Ann loves eggplant while I only tolerate it. Left to my own devices, I'd probably never make it for myself, but I will make it for Ann.

Recently, she asked me to make her a batch of baba ghanoush, which I really do enjoy. One of my favorite foods is hummus and baba ghanoush is essentially hummus made with eggplant rather than chickpeas. If I'm going to make baba ghanoush, I also want some pita to dip in it. I set out last week to make both items.

Baba Ghanoush and Pita

Baba Ghanoush

The first thing that you will notice about my baba ghanoush is how dark it is. This comes from charring the eggplants on the grill to achieve a smoky flavor. Smoke and eggplant are highly complementary flavors.

Eggplants

For about a quart of baba ghanoush, I started with 8 medium eggplants. These smaller eggplants have fewer developed seeds which I think gives a better texture to baba ghanoush. I also used 8 eggplants because when split in half, that quantity pretty much covers my grill.

Lightly Oiled Eggplant Halves on the Grill

Cut the eggplants in half and lightly oil the cut surfaces. Place on a hot grill and put the lid down. If a little of the oil manages to drip on the flame covers and create some smoke, all the better.

Eggplants after 20 Minutes

Keep an eye on the eggplants and remove them when they are shriveled on top and well charred on the bottom. You don't have to char the eggplants, but that's where the flavor is.

Well-Charred Eggplants

Leave the eggplants to cool until you can handle them.

Eggplant Flesh Ready to Blitz

When the eggplants are cool enough to handle, set up a colander in the sink. Then, using a spoon, scrape out the flesh including the charred bits into the colander. Put the eggplant skins on the compost pile and let the eggplant sit in the colander for a half hour or so to drain off any remaining liquid.

Transfer the drained eggplant to your food processor. I'm hesitant to give a recipe here because baba ghanoush is one of those things that I make to taste. I will say that I added roughly a teaspoon of salt, two finely minced cloves of garlic, and two tablespoons of tahini to the processor bowl—kids, I don't measure. Whir the mixture, but not too long such that it still has some texture, and drizzle in olive oil to achieve the consistency you want. I added something shy of a quarter cup, let us say.

Pita

Making fresh pita is a highly rewarding and potentially addictive task. It takes a little practice to make the pita round, but don't worry about it if they are not. No matter the shape, they still taste wonderful! I learned by making naan in an Indian restaurant and my first attempts resembled the map of the United States rather than a perfect circle!

Pita Dough, Just Brought Together

When making pita dough, I always add a bit of Greek yogurt. It's not necessary; it's just what I do. If you don't want to, substitute water instead. I might have substituted a half cup of whole wheat flour for an equivalent amount of AP flour, but I didn't have any whole wheat on hand. For 8 pita, you will need the following:

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

a glug of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 teaspoons yeast

2-1/2 cups of all purpose flour

Mix the water, yogurt, oil, salt, and yeast in a bowl. Do you like the scientific amount of olive oil? It's not critical. Mix these ingredients well then add the flour and stir to bring together. You're looking for a moist dough. Add more flour or water as necessary. Give the dough a couple of turns and bring it together in a bowl. Cover it and let it rise. 

Dough After Final Rise

The number of rises I put the dough through is a function of my schedule. If I'm short on time, it rises once. If it's risen and I don't plan to use the dough for more than an hour, I'll knock it down and let it rise again. Bread doughs are just not that picky.

Rolling out the Pita

Flour your work surface. Knock the dough down one final time and form it into a ball. Cut the ball in half and halve each piece two more times to give a total of 8 pieces roughly equal in size. Cupping a piece of dough between the palm of your hand and the work surface, roll each piece into a ball. Put the dough balls under a towel to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Take a ball and start by flattening its outside edges to form a rough circle as you see in the bottom center of the photo above. Leave the center of the ball unflattened. Then gently roll from the center of the ball out to the edges, rotating the dough as you go. When you're done, you'll have flattened disks as in the top right of the photo above. You can also pat them out between your hands like tortillas, but that takes a good bit of experience.

Pita Rising in the Oven

While you are rolling out the dough, heat a sheet tray in a very hot oven to 475F. When the sheet tray is hot, drop two pitas on it and bake for two minutes. The dough should puff. Flip the pita and bake for an additional minute. The pita shouldn't really take on much, if any, color.

Keep Baked Pita Warm in a Towel

As the pitas come out of the oven, wrap them in a towel to keep warm. Let the sheet tray reheat for a minute and start the process over again until you are done.