Homemade Pita Bread

After being in the Middle East, I came to love having fresh pita bread with a meal.  It is so much better than the store bought variety that we are used to.  And, guess what?  It is really quite easy to make.  You have to be at home for a few hours but you aren't busy the whole time.  This recipe is from the New York Times and it is wonderful.



4 t. active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
1/2 cup fresh whole wheat flour
5 cups flour
2 t. kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Make sponge: Put 2 cups lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.

Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe which if you do that, you might as well just make it right then because it takes an hour or two to warm up.)

Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile.  I like the ceramic tile because it retains the heat well. Punch down dough and divide into 32 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.  The damp towel is critical.  Not too wet or it affects the dough but damp enough to keep the dough from drying while you are rolling out the pieces.

Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat disc with rolling pin. Roll to a 5-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)

Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Eat plain, dipped in hummus or tahini, salsa, filled with cooked chicken, sprouts and ranch dressing (a favorite of the kids when they were growing up), meatballs with a marinara sauce, whatever you like.

I doubled this recipe so that I could mix it in my Bosch.  A smaller amount of flour doesn't work in that big bowl.