Pita
Pita, large and flat, or smaller with a pocket, is the staple bread of the Middle-East. Probably few people in Middle-Eastern
countries would dream of making pita at home, but it's a recipe that is fairly simple and
always amazes me when I watch the small loaves balloon up in the oven to magically form a pocket.
Of course, home-baked pita is much better than any of the packaged ones available in the supermarket, and they can rival
the ones purchased in the markets in the Middle-East.
Ingredients
- 1 T. dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm (95°F.) water
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 T. canola or olive oil
- 1 cup warm (95°F.) water
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup water. In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the plastic blade, combine the
yeast mixture with the remaining ingredients, and knead for 2 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and has
the texture of your earlobe.
Put the dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise 2 hours. Punch down the dough, and let rise again, 1 1/2 hours.
Cut the dough into 12 pieces, form into balls, and roll into flat disks (about 1/4 inch thick) on a floured
surface.
Preheat the oven to 500°F. with unglazed quarry tiles covering the
upper rack. After the rolled out disks have rested for 15-20 minutes, bake them (3 or four at a time)
on the hot tiles, 1 minute per side. The finished pitot are only barely beginning to color, having a bit of flour
still clinging to the surface. Cool on a rack, and store in plastic
bags, or freeze.