Pita pita po pita

(***WARNING! This is a very wordy recipe!***)

My Aunt Carol was a Pita-pusher. That's right. The first one was free, maybe even the second or the third, but eventually you had to figure out a reliable way to feed your addiction.

One option was to move to Enoch.

The other option was to have her teach you how to make it and then start your own pita-pushing business.

I chose option number 2 because I wanted to see the world, and now I present option number 2 to the blogosphere. Prepare to become addicted.


The Recipe:

(any bread recipe will do, some pita recipes online are super simple--just flour, water, yeast and salt, mine is just my bread recipe)

5 c. water
2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 c. honey
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c. shortening
flour to make a dough (ends up being about 10-12 cups and I like to do half freshly-ground white wheat and half all-purpose flour)

Mix the water and yeast and honey, then add the shortening and salt. Then go to town on the flour.

Let it rise for about an hour (till its double), then punch it down and decide what you want to do with all of the dough.

This recipe will make four loaves of bread. Or, two loaves, a 9" circular pan of rolls, and 8 pitas; or, 1 loaf, 1 pan of rolls, and 16 pitas. . . you see how it goes. Each fourth of the dough is the equivalent to a loaf, so do what you will.

We only have three people in the family, so I made 8 pitas this time.

First, you pinch off the dough into 8 equal sections (about the size of rolls, go figure). Then, you make the pita balls--



All you do is take the edges of the dough ball and push them into the center, over and over.

Then let it rest for a few minutes. If you are doing the whole batch of bread dough in pita, just start at one end, and then when you get done making the balls, the first ones will be ready for phase two. (Essentially, the ball should rest for about 7-10 minutes before you roll it out).


Aunt Carol puts the pitas on a floured dish towel, which is probably how the Israelis do it. I used tin foil because then I could just wad it up and throw it away.

Next is phase two: Rolling the Pitas Out

But don't forget Phase 1.5: Turning On The Oven - 450 - 500 degrees, and put a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven. If you don't have a pizza stone, you should buy one, they are great. Or you can use a cookie sheet that you just leave in there, upside-down.



Now we're at Phase Two:


You start at the middle (again with the middle) and roll toward the edges. That's it.

I think the "doing things from the middle" helps the pocket to form. So try to not just roll it out like a pie crust or a tortilla.

Let them rest another 5-7 minutes (or just go through the whole batch and then start cooking the first ones that you finished).

Phase Three: Cooking

I did take a video of this process, but it is mostly long shots of the cupboard, or the countertop on an angle, since I was busy putting the pitas in. Here's the scoop: take the first pita that you rolled out (you should always do the steps in the same order with the dough so that they are all equally rested) and put it on the pizza stone. Repeat with as many as you can get on there. I've gotten up to 6 but I think 4 works the best because the hot air can circulate between them well.

Set your timer for 4 minutes. They are seriously fast cookers. When they puff up and start getting little (or big) brown freckles, they are perfectly done. Sometimes they don't all puff up. It doesn't mean you are a bad person and they still taste great. Hopefully most of them will though--thats how the pocket is formed.

Take them out with a spatula and set them on a clean dish towel to cool. Then keep cooking them, four or five at a time.




Fill them with chicken salad, seafood salad, taco-stuff, fruit salad with yogurt (one of my favorites), or wrap them up like a shayrma. They are just . . . addictive.