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pita bread

Bread, Dinner, Lactose Free, Sandwiches, Vegan, Vegetarian

Pita Bread

July 24, 2012

After making hummus and tabouleh I purchased two types of pita bread from a local grocery store to complete the meal.  What a disappointment!  Both of the pita breads were dry and flavorless.  I was determined to make my own pita bread and did a search and found this simple and delicious recipe:

Farmgirl’s Pita Bread

Makes 8

2 1/2 c bread flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons instant or bread machine yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 c water

8 8″ squares of aluminum foil for baking pitas

In a large bowl combine 1 c flour with salt, sugar and yeast.  Add the oil and water.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for three minutes.  Stir in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. The dough should be a rough, shaggy mass that will clean the sides of the bowl.  I did not use the entire 2 1/2 c of flour.  I used the remaining flour plus more when I kneaded the dough.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 6 minutes

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  This is where a kitchen scale comes in handy.  Roll into balls, dust very lightly with flour and cover with a damp tea towel.  Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Use the palm of your hand and flatten each ball into a disk.  Finish with a rolling pin, flattening the dough into a disk about 6″ in diameter and 3/16″ thick.

Place each round on a square of aluminum foil and carefully place 4 of the rounds directly on the oven rack.  Bake for 5-8 minutes, or until they puff up.  If they don’t puff up, they may not form a pocket and you will not be able to stuff them with goodies.  This happened to me but those pitas didn’t go to waste.  I ate them with a slathering of Earth Balance buttery spread, yum.

Once you remove the pitas from the oven, stack them up and wrap them in a large piece of foil.  This will keep them soft while the tops fall, leaving a pocket in the center.  At this point you can eat them right away or freeze to use later.

Next time I will substitute some of the white bread flour with white whole wheat flour and see how that works.  The entire process took just about an hour.  Give it at try.

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