Name: Simple Pita Bread
Yield: 1
Ingredients: All purpose flour; Salt

Simple Pita Bread

Pita bread is quick and easy to make at home. Slice horizontally for sandwiches, or cut in triangles and toast for dipping!

11 April, 2019

Preparation

Activate the yeast: in a medium bowl, combine the water and yeast. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
Add the flour, salt and oil. Mix with a fork to form a rough dough.
On a lightly floured surface, dump the dough and start kneading. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes. You may sprinkle more flour if the dough is sticky, but keep it to a minimum to avoid ending up with a dry pita bread.
Let the dough rest: clean the bowl used for the dough and grease it with some olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 1 hour in a warm place until doubled in size. If your home is cool, place in the oven, turned off, with just the light switched on.
Place a baking sheet or pizza stone on the top rack of the oven, heat to 500F/260C.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently deflate the dough. Divide into 6 equal pieces, roll into balls between your hands then flatten with a rolling pin. Roll each out to disks about 1/4 inch/7 mm in thickness. Cover the disks with a clean tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
Take the hot baking sheet or pizza stone from the oven. Place as many pita disks you can fit onto the sheet without overlapping. Return to oven and bake for about 3 minutes until pitas have puffed up like a balloon.
Cover the cooked pitas with clean tea towels whilst you cook the remaining pitas.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Place a cooked pita and toast briefly on each side until you see a few toasted spots appear. Repeat with the remaining pitas.