Easy Peasy: Pita Bread
Have I made pita bread before? I can't actually remember. But I did it (again?) today. Pita bread is so ridiculously easy and so fantastic right out of the oven I don't know why I haven't made it (ever?) more regularly.
Pita Bread
--adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
3-1/2 cups all purpose flour (you can use up to 1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour if you wish), plus more for rolling the dough
2 tsp salt
1 pkg (1-1/2 tsp) quick-rise (instant) yeast
1 TBS olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
1 cup water (you may need a couple of TBS more)
Put the flour, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor. Using the steel blade, mix the dry ingredients for a few seconds until thoroughly combined. With the motor running add the oil and the water and leave the processor on for 30 seconds or so. The dough should come together in a not-too sticky, easy-to-manage ball. If the dough is too dry add water 1 TBS at a time through the feed tube with the motor running. If the dough is, conversely, too wet, add a little bit a flour, also in 1 TBS increments. Remove the dough from the processor and knead for 1 minute.
Oil a medium bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot, covered with a dish towel, for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in bulk.
Preheat the oven to 500F.
Punch down the dough and divide into 12 small balls. Flour a board and roll each ball out roughly to a 6-8" circle.
Place the rolled-out dough on sheet pans in one layer (don't stack them or they'll stick together, you should be able to fit about 4 circles of dough per pan.) Bake for 6-10 minutes. Watch closely. The bread will puff up after 3 minutes or so.
After another 3 minutes the dough will begin to turn a bit golden around the edges and at the center. Depending if the dough is on the bottom or middle rack they could be done or they could need a couple more minutes. (Bottom rack cooks faster.)
Tonight we ate our pita bread with a cous-cous salad, some cucumber-yogurt dip and pickled carrots. I think I'll stuff them with some veggies and cheese for lunch tomorrow!
