Pita Bread
Pita bread is one of those incredible foods that is so versatile and will just work with everything. Whilst now I prefer my pita dipped in hummus, back in primary school I used to stuff them with Mini Cheddars to make an improvised crisp/cheese sandwich. My culinary experiments have moved on a lot since then, but I still have a fondness for these bread pockets and they pair super well with the other meze dishes in this banquet!
Recipe
Makes 4 Pitas
Time: 20 minutes, plus proving and baking time
Ingredients
- 250g Strong white bread flour
- 7g Instant yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 160ml Water
- 2 tsp Olive oil
Method
- Put the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Be careful not to put the salt directly on top of the yeast as this will kill it and prevent your dough from rising. Add the oil and then slowly add the water, mixing as you do, to get a smooth dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a worktop and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Place this dough into a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (about an hour).
- Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C and pop a baking tray in the oven to warm up.
- When the dough is ready turn it out onto your surface and knead for 20 seconds to knock out the air bubbles.
- Split the dough into 6 and roll each portion into a ball. Then lightly flour a surface and roll each ball out into a 5cm long oval.
- Take the tray out of the oven and lightly dust with flour. Put each pitta onto it and then bake for 5-10 minutes until they start to brown slightly.
- Serve with lots of hummus!
Thanks for reading!
Emma x