Summer staples - Pitta Bread

If you're anything like me, warm summer evenings call for dinner in the garden, chilled white wine and casual outdoor eating. I'm such a fan of  Mediterranean sharing plates, and no mezze platter is complete without a side of gently warmed pitta. Thinking of last year's holiday to Santorini it struck me that the light, soft pitta of those sunset meals is a far distant memory compared to the flat, chewy and uninspiring pitta from my local supermarket.

Perfectly puffed pitta

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking of pitta bread as a packet of pale, dense pockets often thrown into my shopping trolley as an afterthought. All too often these neglected breads are thrown in the freezer waiting for their short stint in the toaster. So using some of the extra time at home that has been enforced as part of the coronavirus lockdown I decided to have a go at making them myself.

It turns out that making the light soft pitta of my holiday memories is no trouble at all, all that's needed is some basic ingredients, a bit of patience and a rolling pin. The olive oil in the dough makes the mix beautifully silky to work with, and the addition of a little sugar really helps the yeast get started. From start to finish this recipe takes around 1.5 hours and 1 hour of that is the proving, so they're really pretty quick. The resulting pitta are wonderfully light and have that all important cavity, making them the perfect handheld bread to transport goodies from the BBQ straight into my face!

A pitta platter served with BBQ peppers, balsamic beetroot, feta and smoked aubergine dip

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Recipe - Pitta Bread

Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Jug

Scales

Rolling pin

Baking sheets

Pizza stone (if you have one, if not just use your baking trays)

Ingredients

1x 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast

300ml warm water

500g strong white bread flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. The first thing to do is to mix your yeast and sugar into the warm water. Leave this to one side while you weigh out the remaining ingredients. The yeast should start to activate and become slightly bubbly on the surface of the water. Be sure to mix the yeast as soon as it is added to the water otherwise it could clump together and you'll be stuck trying to mix little blobs of yeast into a jug of water.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour and salt then combine with the oil as well as the yeast, water and sugar mix. I tend to mix everything together with one hand to get a rough ball of dough - don't worry if it isn't a well combined dough at this stage.

3. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, or in a stand mixer, until it is elastic and smooth. This will take around 5 minutes in a mixer on a low setting, or up to 10 minutes by hand.

4. Once the dough has become silky it is ready to leave to prove. Shape it into a rough ball and leave to rest and grow for around an hour (until the dough has doubled in size). Many recipes suggest covering the bowl with cling film, but I am trying to reduce the amount of single-use plastic I use, so depending on which bowl I'm using I'll either cover it with a shower cap, or use my silicone bowl cover.

5. Once your dough has risen take this opportunity to start heating your oven. I have an old gas oven, so it gets set to gas mark 9 (240°c) to preheat the pizza stones or baking trays - one on the highest shelf and the other in the centre of the oven. While the oven heats up take your proved dough and tip it out on to a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. I tend to work by halving the dough and dividing those halves again and again - I'm not fussed about weighing the dough - this is homemade pitta! Shape each portion of dough into a small round. The method that I've found useful is to stretch the dough into a rough sheet then, working clockwise, take each edge of the dough at even intervals (10 minutes around the "clock face") and bring it to the centre to make a pouch. Turn the ball over (seam side down) and use the side of one hand to gently pull the ball over the work surface to create a little tension in the dough. Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough and set each on a baking tray or chopping board. I cover my trays with silicone baking mats, but either dust the trays with flour or use a sheet of baking paper - whatever you have to hand.

6. Working in the same order that you shaped the balls of dough, take them one by one, gently squash them with your hand then and roll each piece of dough into an oval, approximately 20cm long and no thicker than 5mm. Once rolled out place the pitta back onto the covered /prepared trays.

7. Working in batches (I can get 3 pitta onto each pizza stone) quick place the pittas onto the pre-heated pizza stones or baking trays and return them to the oven. The pitta will cook in a matter or minutes. I've found this mine cook in 5-7 minutes on the top shelf and in 6-8 minutes in the center of the oven. When they're baked they should have puffed up and taken on a pale golden colour. Once baked, tip the pitta into a bowl lined with a clean tea towel to keep the steam in and to retain the warmth. Continue baking the pitta in batches until they're all cooked.

There you have it, homemade pitta bread, ready to be filled or to accompany any number of summery dishes.