Pita bread

Pita Yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas.

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour (plus a little more for dusting)
  • 360g lukewarm water
  • 3 tsp instant dry yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Steps

  1. Bloom the yeast in the water and sugar, 10 mins.
  2. Mix in the flour and salt, turn a few times with a dough scraper to form a shaggy dough.
  3. Turn out on a work surface and knead for 10 mins.
  4. Coat bowl in olive oil and leave the dough (covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap) to bulk rise for 1 hour.
  5. Split dough into 6 equally sized pieces.
  6. Dust work surface in flour, and roll each piece out into a round disc approx 0.5 cm in height. Dust with flour.
  7. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise again, 15-30 mins.
  8. Stone bake one at a time in a pizza oven (700ºF plus) or on a pizza stone in a regular oven (500ºF, a few at a time). Turn when they rise and/or start to look well browned underneath. About 2-3 mins per side in pizz oven, 5-6 mins per side in regular oven.
  9. As you cook pitas, transfer to serving bowl, covered with dry cloth.

Pita baking

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