Pitta Bread Recipe

Ingredients for Pitta Bread:

• 1 lb (450 g) flour – your choice of which kind
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ oz (14 g) fresh yeast or ¼ (7 g) dried yeast
• ½  pint (300 ml) water

Method for Pitta Bread:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Cream the yeast with a little of the water and leave until frothy.
2. Make a well into the flour, add the yeast and mix to a dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
4. Put into a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
5. Turn onto a floured surface, knock back with your hand or fist to remove any air pockets and knead again for a few minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 6 pieces, dust each piece with flour and roll out to form ovals approximately 8″ by 5″ and ¼” thick.
7. Put onto a large floured board and dust again
8. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave the dough to rise again in a warm place for 25 to 30 minutes until almost doubled in size.
9. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 8 (450°F/230°C).
10. Lightly grease two baking sheets and put into the oven until they are really hot.
11. Remove trays from oven and quickly put the pittas on them.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until the pittas are just beginning to turn brown.
13. Cool on a wire rack.

Note: If the oven and baking sheets are not extremely hot, the pittas won’t  puff up as they should. This Pitta Bread Recipe makes 6 pittas.