Samuel Feldman

Pita, fresh from the oven

Another day of baking delicious food! Why the food mood recently? I’ve been pretty stressed with work, school, etc, so I figured this would be a delicious (and nutritious!) way to relieve stress. And yes, it works. Because not only is it a mindless task that shows fast, tasty results, but it is also a reminder all week that yes, I can do something productive.

Anyway, tonight’s recipe is healthy pita bread, baked with a mix of whole wheat and white flour. It is roommate approved, and also freezes well for future consumption. Make some hummus (I’ll post a good hummus recipe in the future) or pick some up from your local Fresh & Easy. Click through to read more and see some pictures of the process.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 .5 cups warm water (110 degrees)
• 1 .5 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil (or olive oil, my personal choice)

Instructions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy, like this:
   

   Frothy yeast & honey water

2. While you’re waiting, thoroughly combine the white flour, wheat flour, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour some of the yeast water in the depression.
4. Slowly add the warm yeast water, and stir with a wooden spoon until dough becomes one elastic piece.
5. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded. Congratulations!
6. Coat a large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated with oil. Allow to sit, covered, in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size. I know, I know, 3 hours is a long time. But go take a nap (I did!) or make other food (also did that). Also, I use my oven trick here too, where I heat the oven just a little bit (not much over 100 degrees) and then place the dough in there to rise.
7. Once the dough is doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes.


Future Pita Bread

8. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and make sure the rack is at the very bottom of the oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet also.
9. Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.


Pita Circles

10. Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.


Puffy Pita

11. Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.
12. Take spatula and gently push down puff. Don’t do this with your hands, like I tried once, because air squeakes out, and that pita air is hot! Immediately place all but one in storage bags and freeze, if you’re so inclined.

Now, eat and enjoy! This is one of my favorite recipes because it is relatively easy, the ingredients are very basic, and fresh, homemade bread (including even frozen, reheated pita) cannot be matched.