Pita

Why would anyone want to make pita at home? Well. I did! I did not want to go to the store to buy some & have had a recipe for pita for a while so I decided to give it a try! It was so quick, easy & very good@

The ingredients are simple, the dough is mixed up & kneaded for 5 minutes…I used my mix master but simple to do it by hand since this isn’t much dough…then the dough rises for 1 hour. Once it has risen, the dough is divided evenly into 6 pieces. Each piece is rolled into a 6 inch round then cooked in a hot pan… for a total of about 2 1/2 minutes! The hot pita is wrapped in a clean kitchen towel so the steam from the pita keeps them soft.

While the pita was cooking it bubbled up so beautifully. They flattened as they cooled. We ate them a few hours after I had made the pita, & they were a bit hard already…but still delicious. I am going to warm the leftovers up before eating them, most likely quickly in the microwave…only about 10 seconds or even in a toaster…but not to toast!

Anyway… I really don’t think that I am going to buy pita anymore! This was just so simple.. While the dough is rising I made the rest of dinner….

The recipe is from the view from great island.com  How to Make Perfect Pita Bread Every Time…..Here is the link to the recipe

I did not change anything about this recipe since I had not made it before I would not have known what to change! But I would not change it anyway:)))

Here is the recipe from the view from the great island

Makes 6 pita breads

Ingredients

1 cup warm water…about 100f

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp olive oil for the dough…you will need some for coating the dough before it rises & for the pan

2 tsp salt

3 cups flour… don’t pack the flour when you are measuring it… the recipe says t o fluff the flour before scooping and levelling it in the measuring spoon…I just did not push it down when I levelled it…

Method

Have these things ready….you will need a skillet & a some tongs to turn the pita in the pan…also a clean dish towel to put the pita in when it comes out of the pan

1. Put the warm water into a bowl…if you are using your mixer put the water into that bowl..or into a regular bowl if you are making this by hand *** I used the dough hook on my mixer
2. Sprinkle the yeast over top of the water & let sit for about 5 minutes
3. Add the oil & salt to the bowl & mix
4. Mix in the flour until it is combined with the wet ingredients
5. Now, knead the dough for 5 minutes until it is smooth
6. Coat the dough with oil & put it into a bowl to rise. I used the mixing bowl…
7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & a clean towel & set it in a warm place for 1 hour, it will double in size
8. Put the dough onto a floured work surface & divide it in half. Cut each half into equal thirds so you have 6 pieces
9. The recipe recommends taking each piece & rolling it into a ball so it is easy to roll it into rounds, which I did
10. Each round will be rolled into a 6 inch round. (I rolled one, cooked it then rolled another one while the first one was cooking…but then I just rolled the remaining pieces of dough into the rounds & had them beside the skillet)
11. Heat a skillet .. I used a cast iron pan…. on medium high until it is hot….as the recipe recommended…. I had my heat turned to number 5.. I have a gas cooktop
12. Oil the pan lightly…you might only need to do this for the first pita…my second pita burned a bit so I oiled my pan lightly for each one using a pastry brush..which melted actually so if you have a silicone brush that might be better!!!
13.  Put the rolled dough into the hot pan.. cook for about 30 seconds.. until you see bubbles to form or lumps ….Flip the pita over & cook for 1 minute…then flip it over again & cook for the final minute
14. Remove the pita from the pan & wrap it in the clean kitchen towel you have ready.
15. Cook each round the same way & just stack them on top of each other in the towel
16. These can be stored in a ziplock bag

Enjoy!!!