Pita Bread 口袋面包

Is it worth making pita at home? Absolutely – the oven is like a magician’s cave as you are thrilled to see the dough puff up in the oven. Once you get hang of it, it’s not difficult.

Makes 8 pieces,

• 1 cup (or 215g)          lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoon (or 6g)        dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon (or 3g)        sugar
• 2 and 1/2 cup (or 310g)    plain flour中筋面粉
• 1/4 cup (or 35g)          wholemeal flour 全麦面粉
• 2g                     salt
• 2 tablespoon            extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Make sponge: place 1 cup lukewarm water in a mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the 1/4 cup wholemeal flour and 1/4 cup plain flour and whisk well. Put the bowl in a warm place (e.g on top of another bowl with very warm water). Leave it uncovered for about 15 minutes until mixture is foamy and bubbling.
2. Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining plain four (reserve 1/4 cup for dusting).Stir for 1 minutes until mixture forms a shaggy mass.
3. Lightly dust the work surface. Turn the dough onto it and knead for 4-5 minutes.
4. Move the dough back to bowl and cover it with a plastic bag. Leave until dough has doubled in size. It takes about 1 hour.
5. Place a baking tray in the oven. Heat the oven to 235℃.
6. Divide the dough into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
7. Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered), punch down the ball and flatten it into a thin piece (in 3-4 mm) with a rolling pin.
8. Remove the baking tray from the oven (BE CAREFUL – it is very HOT). Place 3-4 pieces on the tray. Move the tray back to the BOTTOM shelf of the oven. Bake for 2-3 minutes –the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, only lightly browned on one side.
9. Transfer warm pita to a clean kitchen towel and cover so the bread stays soft.
10. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Tips

1. Make sure the oven is VERY HOT. Otherwise the dough will not puff!
2. Don’t overbake – 4-5 minutes altogether shall be good. Otherwise you will end up with very dry bread.