These homemade pitta bread are easy to make and perfect for dipping in hummus or served with a thick homemade labneh. If you make too many, freeze them for another day.
What is Pitta Bread?
Pitta bread in British English or Pita bread in the US. However, the spelling refers to the same type of bread. Pitta bread is leavened bread commonly found across the Mediterranean and the levant region of the Middle East.
Popularised by its interior pocket, pitta bread make the ideal choice for sandwiches and kebabs. This unique pocket is created through baking. This pocket is created by extremely high temperatures rapidly circulating air and forcing the bread to puff up.
How to Make Pitta Bread
The ingredients used to make pitta bread are the same for most leavened breads worldwide, and so is the process. First, mix the flour with lukewarm water and yeast. The water must be lukewarm and not too hot or cold, as this slight warmth allows the yeast to ferment. Add Salt to taste to the dough.
Strong White Flour – Strong white flour is also known as bread flour, as that’s its most common use. It has a higher gluten content, which gives the dough a greater elasticity and structure, allowing it to trap carbon dioxide as it cooks. This results in risen bread that holds its shape without becoming dense.
Kneading is essential to the dough. This process stretches the gluten and strengthens its bonds
Kneading is essential to the dough. This process stretches the gluten and strengthens its bonds. This allows proteins to expand as the dough rests, resulting in an elastic dough with a stronger structure. This allows proteins to expand as the dough rests, resulting in an elastic dough with a stronger structure.
Kneading also helps distribute the ingredients more evenly. This doesn’t mean just salt and flavourings but the carbon dioxide bubbles caused by fermentation. The key here is fermentation, a process driven by yeast feeding on the dough. Yeast is arguably the most essential ingredient in bread, which causes the dough to rise.
For pitta bread, this fermentation process is critical to achieving the interior pocket because, without yeast, they won’t puff up when they’re cooked.
How to Store Pitta Breads
Serve these homemade pitta bread fresh from the oven. However, life can get in the way of always enjoying freshly baked bread. They will keep in an air-tight container and stored in a cool, dry place for around 5 days. To keep them any longer, pop them in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. Important to note: Allow the pitta bread to cool completely before freezing.
To use them from frozen, defrost the pitta bread and reheat it under the grill or in a griddle pan. These pitta breads are also delicious when finished on the barbecue. I like to serve them with tabbouleh salad and falafels. However, they also work well with this Greek red pepper dip.
Pitta Bread at Home
Ingredients
- 250 g Strong White Flour
- 1 x7g Sachet Instant Yeast
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 150 ml Lukewarm Water
- 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a medium bowl. Add enough water and olive oil to bring the dough together until a soft dough forms. You may not need all the water, but the amount measured is usually sufficient.
- Dust the surface with some extra flour and turn the dough out. Knead by hand for 10 minutes until the dough turns springy and smooth. Alternatively, use a mixer with a dough attachment, as it’s much quicker.
- Cover and set aside in a warm place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 240C, 220C Fan, 475F or Gas 9. If your oven can go higher, turn it as high as possible. Place a large baking tray or stone in the centre of the oven and let it get hot.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls. Flatten the balls into a disc shape, then roll over them with a floured rolling pin to shape into the familiar oval shape. They should be around 3cm thick.
- Remove the hot tray or stone from the oven and lightly dust it with flour. Place the rolled pittas on the tray, cooking in batches if required.
- Place the tray in the oven quickly and bake for 5-10 minutes until the bread puffs and turns golden brown.
- Wrap the pittas in a clean, damp cloth while the other cook to keep them from drying out as the other cook or while they cool.
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