Pita Bread
The year after college, I lived in Cairo, Egypt, for a year. It was the year of Gulf I (yes, I am becoming an old dude when you can list your period experiences with roman numerals). Being in your 20s and an ex-pat is just a fantastic life style. I was making no-money (by US standards), but living a great life.
One of my favorite daily efforts was to walk down to the local outdoor market, buy some absolutely fresh-from-the-delta tomatoes and cucumbers, and find my favorite corner bread seller and buy her, it was always a woman, flat / pita bread. Back at my apartment, with some homemade tahini, some hummus, a tomato and cucumber salad, and some still warm street bread… maybe with a cold Stella beer… we would have quite the simple feast.
Years later, wanting to share that experience with my family, the missing piece of the equation was a flat/pita bread that while not quite the same as the street bread of Cairo, was much less likely to contain teeth chipping stones (true story, but thankfully to an acquaintance and not to me). Enter the picture, Chef John of Food Wishes. He has an amazing recipe and video of a basic pita that is super tasty and very easy. I’ve made a couple of small modifications for my version, but if you do, you will always “enjoy.”
Pita Bread
Equipment
- standing mixer A standing mixer will save you some elbow grease, but not essential. That said, not having to mix this manually more than just a touch makes this super easy.
Ingredients
- 2.25 tsp Instant yeast One package if using standard small packs
- 1 cup water warmed to about 110°
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt kosher or sea preferred
- 2 tbsp olive oil mixed into bread
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil for cooking the bread
Instructions
- Put the yeast and sugar your mixing bowl. Add the warm water and let it foam up, 5 minutes minimum, 10 minutes should be good.
- Add in flour, salt and olive oil for mixing. Turn on standing mixing with dough hook to low and let it go for at least five minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Lightly oil (1 tsp) a clean mixing bowl, and move the dough into the bowl, flipping to cover all sides with oil. Cover and let rest for about 2 hours.
- When doubled in size, roughly, turn the dough back out to your surface. Gently flatten out dough into a rough rectangle. We want to leave some air in the dough so be gentle. Cut the rectangle in half, then each half in half again, then turn 90° and cut the four pieces into eight. It's not critical that they are all the same size, but it will be aesthetically pleasing if they are close.
- Roll into balls and place on counter or sheet pan where they rest for another 30 minutes Cover them with lightly oiled plastic wrap.
- On medium to medium high heat, get a cast iron (or similar) pan heated. Start rolling out your dough balls into flat objects. Don't over roll – better to have thicker, fluffier bread in my mind than stiffer, thinner bread.
- I can usually get 2 pieces on to my cast iron when they are rolled them out as ovals rather than circles. You should end up with about 8 pieces. You'll cook them about 3-4 minutes aside, but keep checking. You are looking for that delicate balance of finding a tool for growth and preservation at the same time.
- Placed cook pitas on a plate or sheet to warm in the oven. Decide whether or not to tell your kids that they are almost ready.
- Layout a spread of tahini, hummus, baba ganoush, tomato and cucumber salad, etc. and have a great meal. If you have access to a Stella beer, you are gold.
