Pita Pile

Pita bread is delicious. That's all there is to it. And the great thing about pita is it's versatile: the classic pita sandwich, cut into strips with hummus or spinach-artichoke dip, served with salad, and my family's current favorite, the pita pizza. We've used all kinds of brands before, including Toufayan, Damascus, Thomas', Trader Joe's, etc. However, we found our favorite pita pizzas were made with homemade pita bread. And the best thing about it? Homemade pita bread is super cheap and easy to make.

I am the queen of taking recipes and giving them my own flair. Sometimes these experiments turn out to the benefit of all, and sometimes they wreck and fall apart moments after they start. This pita recipe is one of the easiest and most flexible baking recipes I've found. I was living on a different planet yesterday when I made them, putting the dry yeast into the flour without dissolving it in water first, and the bread still came out perfectly. Because the recipe is so simple and pliable (unlike many baking recipes) I was able to salvage my mistake. The following recipe is based on the "Pitta Bread" recipe in 500 Greatest-Ever Vegetarian Recipes (I have the 2004 edition and doubled the recipe). 

To make 12 pitas, I used: 

• 2 cups unbleached white bread flour
• 2 cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 oz. dry yeast (I buy a jar of yeast at a time)
• 1 1/3 C. lukewarm water
• 4 tsp. EVOO, plus extra for coating

I mixed all the flour and salt together, whisking it so all four cups and the salt are completely combined. Then I accidentally dumped my yeast in, but managed to get most of it out and into a separate bowl. Some of the flour came with the yeast, by default, but didn't affect the yeast's development. The beauty of this recipe!!!

I dissolved the yeast/flour mixture into the water, but you should just dissolve the yeast into the water. I walked off and left it for five minutes, changing the laundry load and briefly checking my email. Then I stirred the EVOO into the water/yeast mixture and added it all into the flour mixture.

They always say, "Stir the ingredients together to form a dough."  I always find it necessary and more efficient to just wash my hands and dig in, especially with bread. I could have used my Kitchen Aid for this one, but because the recipe creates a small amount of dough, I just used my hands. After mixing the dough in the bowl, I floured a counter top and kneaded it out for about 10 minutes. I never, or rarely ever, use my Kitchen Aid for kneading. There is some kind of stress-energy released when I knead bread for 10 minutes once or twice a week. It's therapeutic. I'd suggest it to any baker, spouse, or parent. Then put the dough back in to bowl, coat it with EVOO, and let sit in the sun or a warm spot in your house for an hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, knock it back and divide it into 12 equal pieces. I started by just dividing it in half, so on and so forth. Let the doughballs sit for a few minutes to chill out and then pull out the rolling pin. Roll the balls out to make oval-ish shape at about six inches long. You can see mine is not perfect, but the finished product looked fine.

Place them on a floured dish towel with olive oil on top and let rise for about 30 minutes. While they're rising away, heat the oven to a whopping 450 degrees with a cookie sheet pre-heating as well. This seems really hot, but the heat is important if you want the pita to end up with an pocket of air in the middle.

Place the bread on the cookie sheet and bake for about 4-6 minutes. Some of my pitas made a pocket and some didn't. I took that opportunity to use the ones for sandwiches and the others for dipping or pita pizzas. After they turn a bit golden, take them out and let them cool. My house smelled amazing.

While I was baking, both Ethan and Tyler came home from a friend's house and work, respectively, and commented on the smell. They were disappointed we weren't eating the pita immediately. Now they can look forward to pita pizzas tomorrow night. 

Another amazing moment of baking pita bread was the cleanup. Tyler washed the dishes. Even after a long day of sitting in front of a computer, Tyler found it in his heart to clean up the mess I made in the kitchen. Thankful does not even describe the feeling.

Tomorrow I'm making pita pizzas, vegan style!

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