1 Tablespoon. (1 pkg.) yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup tepid water
About 1 lb. (450 g) of flour as follows:
2-3/4 cups all purpose flour, unbleached recommended
3/4 cup plain bleached cake flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon. olive oil or tasteless salad or cooking oil
1 cup tepid water; droplets more as necessary
Servings: 12 pita 6 inches in diameter
When yeast is thoroughly dissolved, combine it with the ingredients listed, kneading in enough of the water to make a moderately firm dough. When well blended, let rest for 2 minutes, then knead vigorously until dough is smooth and elastic and does not stick to your hands – 5 minutes or more. Place in a clean, fairly straight-sided 4 quart bowl, cover and let rise at 75 F to 80 F degrees until slightly more than doubled in bulk – 2 hours or so. Deflate by pulling dough inward from sides of bowl, cover, and let rise again to slightly more than double – about 1- 1/2 hours. *(Second rise may be completed in the refrigerator, and when risen, you may punch down dough, cover with a weight to keep it down, and leave for 24 hours – or you may freeze it.)
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and lengthen it by rolling it back and forth under the palms of your hands, forming a thick sausage shape about 16 inches long. Cut even portions all the same size by halving the dough crosswise, halving the 2 halves, then cutting each of these 4 pieces into thirds. Then, to make the pancake shape more even, first form a cushion out of each piece of dough by bringing the 4 corners together and pinching to seal them, then turn seal side down and roll under the palm of one hand to make a ball; set each aside, as you form it, on a floured corner of your work surface, and cover with a lightly floured sheet of plastic. These balls of dough are now to be rolled into pancake-size disks which are to rest either on a floured wooden surface or on floured towels for 20 minutes or so while the oven heats.
Proceed as follows: one at a time, with a rolling pin on a quite heavily floured surface, roll each ball into a disk 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches across. Place disk on prepared resting surface, cover with a floured plastic and continue with the rest. Set quarry tiles, griddle, or baking sheet in lower middle level of oven, and preheat to 500 F – 550 F degrees highest heat! When oven is ready, lightly flour the sliding board, place on it 2 or 3 pita, and slide them onto the hot baking surface. In about 1 minute, large bubbles will appear on surface of the pita and they will then quickly and dramatically puff up like pillows, reach their maximum, and subside slightly. Leave for a moment (baking should take about 2 minutes in all) and remove with a pancake turner before they have time to color or harden. Continue with remaining pita. Let cool completely; they will gradually collapse.
*(Leave on rack for an hour or two, then stack together, pressing out air, and store in a plastic bag; refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, or freeze.)
NOTE:
You may find, as I did, that although pita are easy to make, it does take a session or two to perfect your techniques. It seems important to watch that the dough is fairly firm, since if it is too soft thedisks are sticky to roll and limp to handle. They must be smooth, unwrinkled, and at least 1/4 inch thick, too, or the pita may not puff up into the proper pillow shape.
Pizza:
Roll the pita dough to any size you wish, but the 6 inch is just right for individual servings. When oven is ready, place 3 or 4 dough disks on lightly floured sliding board, rapidly garnish with the pizza topping of your choice, and slide onto hot baking surface in oven, exactly as though you were baking pita. Topping will prevent dough from puffing, and when bottom is lightly browned, in about 5 minutes, the pizza is done.
Notes on Freezing:
You can roll out the dough into disks, flour the disks, stack each between sheets of plastic wrap, and freeze in a bunch. You can then take them singly from freezer to oven; although they will bake into pita, they do not puff quite as much as when fresh – and whether you bake a pita solidly frozen or thawed seems to make little difference. I find the frozen disks just fine for pizza, however, either frozen or thawed before baking.
Serving Suggestions:
Pita pocket sandwiches: Cut the baked pita in half crosswise, gently pull the two halves apart, and fill with any kind of sandwich mixture, such as a salad, hamburger and trimmings, scrambled eggs, a cooked eggplant and tomato mixture, and so forth. Or make your filling and bake it in the pita pocket.
Toasted pita triangles: Split the pita breads – it is often easiest to cut all around the circumference with scissors to make an even split – and cut into triangles of whatever size you wish. Brush with melted butter and, if you wish, a sprinkling of mixed dried herbs and/or grated Parmesan cheese. Arrange buttered side up on a baking sheet and place for a few minutes in a preheated 350 F degrees oven to crisp and brown lightly. Serve with soups, salads, cheese, or with drinks.