Pita Bread Recipe

The people are begging for the curious aside pita bread recipe. Ok, its only Karen that asked, because she was the only one brave enough.

Its terribly simple to mix but there is a little science to creating the pocket in the middle. If I were in the states, I would buy pita at the store (if I knew the price, which I don't).

Pita Bread
Dissolve together in a large bowl
1T active dry yeast
2C warm water

Stir in:
1T oil
6 C flour
2 tsp salt

Knead together until smooth & satiny. Place in greased bowl, turning greased side up. Cover and let rise 45 minutes (double in bulk). Return to floured board and cut into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a flattened ball. Cover and let rest about 20 minutes (or while you are getting everything else together). Keep the dough covered as much as possible so that it doesn't dry out.

Preheat oven to 450F. Heat cookie sheets in the oven while preheating- you want a very hot cookie sheet. Roll out dough balls to 6 inch circles. Don't stretch, crease or fold the dough because you'll loose the air pockets that form the pocket. Place as many as will fit on your cookie sheet without touching and quickly through the tray back in the oven- you want the pan to stay HOT. Bake 3-4 minutes until the pita is puffed and set and then flip to the other side- bake another 2 minutes. Throw off the finished pita and put the tray back in the oven. Give the tray another minute or two to heat up again while you roll out next pitas. Place finished pitas on a cloth covered tray to keep them warm.

For whole wheat pitas:
Reduce water to 1 1/2 C, salt to 1/2 tsp and use 4 C whole wheat flour instead of 6 C white. Omit Oil

NOTE: My pita rarely make a nice pocket like they are supposed to but they make a nice flat bread for Feta Cucumber Sandwiches. When you cook more with less, sometimes you learn to live with the less:) The cookbook suggests if it doesn't rise they are a nice base for individual pizzas. Especially nice I'd think with pesto, chicken, feta and black olives, mmmmm.

This is from Extending the Table. The link is over on the side and for 20$ you need this cookbook!