Pitas Baked to Perfection

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In January my thoughts always turn to bread baking -- can it be because I've just baked a thousand cookies and almost as many other rich treats for Christmas and New Year's?

I also don't want to spend all day in the kitchen again after the holidays, so pita bread is a perfect solution - it mixes up quickly and is ready to be baked about an hour afterwards. Best of all, if you have a large kitchen, you can invite some friends over for pita sandwiches and let them bake the bread while you gather the fillings. When they see those little flat disks of dough puff in the oven they'll think you're a magician. Not bad for stirring some water, oil, yeast and salt into flour.

My ideal pita is served at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Moustache near where I live in Greenwich Village. Their pita is large, puffy and always baked to order -- it's a real treat.

 

PITA BREAD

Makes twelve 7-inch pitas

4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water, no more than 110 degrees

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Equipment needed: Baking stone or an oven rack covered with two inverted jelly-roll pans or cookie sheets side by side.

 

1. Stir together the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer.

2. Whisk the yeast into the water, and whisk in the oil. Use a large rubber spatula to stir the liquid into the flour, continuing to stir until the dough is evenly moistened.

3. Place the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook and mix on lowest speed for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

4. Mix the dough on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.

 

Home-Baked Pitas: Step 5

5. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and turn the dough over so that the top is oiled.

Press plastic wrap against the surface of the dough and let the dough rise until it is double, about an hour or so.

6. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and press it into a disk. Cut the disk onto 12 wedges. Round each wedge into a ball, rolling it under your cupped hand to stretch a smooth even skin around the ball of dough, as in the illustration (figure a).

7. Line up the balls of dough next to each other and cover them with a towel or a piece of oiled plastic wrap. Let the pieces of dough rest for 15 minutes.

8. In the meantime, set a rack in the middle level of the oven and place a baking stone or a couple of inverted cookie sheets or jelly roll pans on it. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

 

Home-Baked Pitas: Step 9

9. While the oven is heating, roll each piece of dough out to a 9-inch disk using a rolling pin and pressing very hard because the dough resists.

If the dough is very uncooperative, roll each disk as much as you can, then set aside, overlapping them in order as you go. After you reach the last disk, go back to the first one and roll it again -- this may be the only way to get the pieces of dough thin enough.

10. Cover the rolled-out pieces of dough with a cloth or plastic wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes.

11. Bake as many of the disks of dough at a time as will fit in the oven without overlapping -- it is better to bake less at a time and have them puff successfully than to rush the process.

12. Bake for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until they are well puffed and golden.

13. Transfer the pita to racks as they are baked -- they will deflate, but they will keep the opening on the inside. Continue until you have baked all the pieces of dough.

 

Storage: Keep the leftover pita in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven or toaster oven. Freeze for longer storage.

 

Nick Malgieri is the award-winning author of "Perfect Cakes ," Harper Collins, 2002; "A Baker's Tour: Nick Malgieri's Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World ," Harper Collins, 2005; and "Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs, All Under 300 Calories Per Generous Serving " Morrow, 2006.

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Home-Baked Pitas: Easier and More Delicious Than You Think - Nick Malgieri Recipes

(c) 2010 Nick Malgieri