This is a pretty quick, easy recipe that produces puffy pitas with big cavities to full with your favourite fixins. Let's get right to it and look at our ingredients.
Strong wheat flour 900 g
Water (90 to 100 *F) 500 g
Instant Yeast 30 g
Olive oil 50 g
Sea salt 15 g
You can always add your favourite herbs to the dough. If you do, remember that a little goes a long way. Starting with 10 to 15 g of dried herbs is pretty standard. You can adjust up and down to taste with your next bake.
Makes 12 to 20 pitas depending on size. 24 to 40 pockets.
That's it!
The Dough
Whisk the yeast into your warm water until fully dissolved. Pour the mixture over the flour. With your dough hook attachment knead on low/medium low for 3 minutes while scraping the dough from the sides with a rubber spatula to bring the flour, water and yeast together . Add the oil and knead for another 7 to 11 minutes until the dough is elastic. Add the salt and increase the speed. Knead for another 4 to 7 minutes to incorporate the salt until your dough is the right texture - smooth, elastic and can pass the window pane test.
Form the finished dough into a tight ball and place it in an oiled, lidded container. As always, I'm a fan of spray oils for things like this. Firmly fasten the lid and let sit for 30 minutes. Remove the dough and knock it down. This dough has an unusually high yeast content at 30 grams. It rises fast. For the best results it is important that you work the dough well when knocking it down to get as much gas out as possible. Form the dough back into a tight ball and return it to the container. Replace the lid and let it sit for another 30 minutes.
Shaping and Baking
Remove the dough and divide it in half. Roll each piece into a long strand.
Using a scale, cut the dough to the desired size - large pitas at about 125 grams or smaller pitas at 100 grams. As long as I'm somewhere in the middle I'm good.
Form the pieces, as you cut and weigh them, into small balls and place seam down. When all the balls are formed, cover with a tea towel and let sit for 5 minutes.
Roll each ball out to a circle a little larger than a side plate about a 1/4 of an inch thick but no more. Place them on flour dusted tea towels or a dusted couche, cover with tea towels and let sit for 45 minutes or until double in size. Here it's more important that your dough has risen sufficiently for success in baking.
Preheat your oven with a stone or tray to 570 *F. (Many home ovens' highest temperature is 550 *F. If this is the case for you, add 2 minutes to your baking time and adjust your tray rotation accordingly.) Place the pitas on the hot tray (four at a time), spray generously with water and bake for 5 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. Turn your tray around at the mid point to ensure even browning.
Place on wire racks to cool before serving. Best used within the next day or two. Store in plastic bags or cling wrap. ( I have not tried freezing yet but I believe you would need to cut and flatten them first.)
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