Pita Bread

 



 

It's a cold, wet day. The rain is crashing on the roof and bouncing of the window sills. Too cold to venture out. Too cold for anything more challenging than making cups of mint tea, browsing food mags and stuffing my face with pillows of soft, warm pita bread. Yes, an afternoon of pillow stuffing sounds like a plan.



Pita Bread
Makes 8

3 cups baker's flour
7g dried yeast
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Put the flour and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix briefly.

In a jug, combine the water, honey, oil and salt. Pour into the flour and mix at low speed for 10 minutes, until you have a soft, smooth dough.

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Turn the dough over so that it gets a coating of oil all over. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draught-free spot for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down. Turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 8 even portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place the balls on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover with damp tea towels and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll each ball into a disc about 15cm in diameter. Leave the discs on the work bench and cover with damp tea towels for about 40 minutes to become puffy.

Preheat the oven to 225C and slide a pizza stone or baking sheet into the oven to heat up.

Bake the pitas directly on the pizza stone or baking sheet (I baked two at a time) for 5 minutes. They will bubble, then puff right up and deflate a little when taken out of the oven. Stack them up and keep them warm in a clean tea towel until you have baked them all.