Like many other things in life, pita turned out to be easier than originally thought.
2 cups flour (I used 1 c bread and 1 c plain), plus plenty for kneading
1 cup warm water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbs good olive oil
1) Mix all the dry ingredients together, then drizzle the olive oil in. Mix again and add the warm water.
2) Mix first with a wooden spoon and then dump onto an incredibly clean counter and knead with your hands (and plenty of flour) until the dough is soft and not sticky. About 5 min or so.
3) Put a little oil in a bowl and put in the kneaded dough, then cover it tightly with a kitchen towel.
4) Warm the oven a little–for a minute or two. It shouldn’t be hot or able to cook anything. Turn the oven off and put the pita dough (covered) in the oven to rise for an hour or two.
5) After the dough has about doubled in size, gently punch down to release the air, knead a couple times and then divide into 8 pieces. Use plenty of flour throughout this process as the dough will still stick.
6) Roll out each piece about the size of pita you would like (not as thin as a tortilla) and then set aside, with a good sprinkling of flour and stack as you roll.
7) Heat the oven up pretty hot–about 430-450 degrees. Place the pitas (not touching) onto a baking sheet and place on the top shelf of the oven. When they puff up (after a few minutes), flip over to quickly brown the other side.
The pitas will cook quickly–in under 5 minutes. Once you take them out of the oven they will gradually lose air and settle down, but you will have some great pita pockets for falafel or other fillings.
lushesfood 