Pita Bread

Pita Bread

This recipe comes from one of my very favorite books, “The Book of Bread” by, Judith & Evan Jones. Ingredients:

1 tablespoon yeast

1 – 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons coarse salt or 1 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 – 1/2 cups white flour

Directions:

Mix yeast, & 1/2 cup of the warm water until completely dissolved & foamy.  Stir in the remaining water, salt, & oil.  Stir in both types of flour & knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat all sides of the dough with a little oil. Cover & let rise in a warm place for about 1 – 1/2 hours or until doubled. Cut the dough into 12 equal portions, then form each into a ball.  Cover the dough balls & let them rest, about 5 minutes.  Next, roll the dough out 1 at a time so that each is about 6″ in diameter.  This will take some work, as this dough is pretty “springy” & it takes persistence & a heavy hand while rolling.  Cover & let eat disc rest for about 20 minutes. Heat a pizza stone in a 500 F oven for about 20 minutes.  Working in batches, place 1 to 3 pieces on the stone (whatever fits), working quickly so that the heat doesn’t escape too much.  Bake for 3 minutes & remove to a cooling rack.  Repeat until all 12 have been baked.  You’ll notice that the pita is puffy, but it flattens out upon cooling.  Serve warm or at room temperature.      

Recipe Notes:

Make pita sandwiches by cutting them in half, then stuffing the filling into the “pocket” of each half. If you’d like to use your bread maker to make the dough, place the ingredients into the container in the following order:  water, oil, flour, salt, yeast & select the “dough” cycle, which will take about 90 minutes between mixing & rising on this cycle.