- Makes8
- CourseAccompaniment
- Prepare30 mins
- Cook15 mins
- Total time45 mins
- Plusrising and resting
Ingredients
- 290g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 85g plain wholemeal flour
- 1½ tsp dried instant yeast
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
Method
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine both flours, the yeast, salt and sugar. Stir gently to combine, ensuring the yeast and salt are evenly distributed.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then pour in the oil and 240ml lukewarm water. Mix until the dough begins to come together – it will be sticky at first, but will smooth out as you knead it.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle with a little more flour, but don’t add too much – the dough needs to remain soft and pliable. Or use a dough hook to mix the dough in a stand mixer on a slow speed for 6-8 minutes.
Lightly grease a clean bowl, then add the dough. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm place for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Once doubled in size, knock the dough down to knock out the air, then divide into 8 equal-sized portions. Roll each portion into a tight ball, then cover with a damp tea towel, and set aside to rise for 15-20 minutes.
On a well-floured surface, roll each dough ball into a thin, flat disc, about 14cm in diameter. Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes more.
Meanwhile, place a large cast iron or heavybased frying pan over a medium heat until hot. To test if it’s ready, sprinkle a little water into the pan. It should form a sphere and roll around the pan before quickly evaporating.
Place as many of the rolled dough discs that will comfortably fit in the pan (I usually go for 2 at a time). Using a fish slice or heatproof spatula, flip the pittas every 15-20 seconds. They will start to colour on each side, and should begin to puff and fill with air after 3-5 flips. If they don’t puff up, use the tip of the spatula to press down around the edges of the bread. This should encourage the centres to puff out. If the bread starts to scorch, turn the heat down a little.
Once the pittas fill with air, cook them for 20 seconds more each side. Remove from the pan and wrap in a clean tea towel to keep soft and warm. Serve immediately, with your choice of dips or fillings, or freeze for future use.
Cook’s tip
To cook in the oven
This method is quicker than using a frying pan, but requires a scorchingly hot oven, so only do this if you’re confident your oven will cope. The resulting pittas will be much paler in colour, but just as fit for purpose.
1 Place a heavy-duty baking tray in the oven and preheat it to 240°C, gas mark 9. If you have a pizza stone, place that in the oven to preheat as well. The high heat is essential for the pittas to puff up perfectly.
2 Once rolled and rested, carefully place the pittas onto the hot baking tray or pizza stone. Close the door, then bake for 3-4 minutes, or until puffed up – don’t open the door during the bake. Wrap the cooked pittas in a tea towel as per the recipe.
Rolling dough
If the dough resists or starts to shrink back, let it rest for another 10 minutes before continuing to roll. This resting time allows the gluten to relax, making it easier to roll the dough into a smooth, even disc, which is important for achieving the perfect cook.
A word on flours
A mix of strong plain and wholemeal plain flour yields the best flavour and has the right protein content to create a bread with the best gluten structure to puff up. If you don’t have plain wholemeal flour, use regular plain flour.
Freeze the pittas
Keeping a stash of homemade pittas in the freezer will make you feel like you have your life together. Simply allow the breads to cool, then pile into a freezer bag or resealable container, separating each pitta with a piece of baking parchment. Reheat in the toaster or warm through in the oven to defrost.
Nutritional
Typical values per item when made using specific products in recipe
Energy | 900kJ/ 213kcals |
|---|---|
Fat | 3.8g |
Saturated Fat | 0.6g |
Carbohydrates | 37.3g |
Sugars | 2.2g |
Fibre | 2.3g |
Protein | 6.3g |
Salt | 0.6g |