Pita Recipe

I've made so many pitas over the past year that I think I could make these in my sleep. It is one of my most used recipes on the 100 meter diet.

I've experimented with various different types of flour but I have now settled on a pita recipe that I like the best.

Here it is ....

Ingredients

2.5 cups of whole wheat flour
2.5 cups of spelt flour
1 cup of red fife flour
2.5 cups of whey (water can be a substitute)
1 teaspoon of yeast
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil


Directions

Dissolve the yeast in a bowl of warm whey and then add the mixture to a larger bowl with 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Stir well, cover and leave it to sit for several hours. I usually do this step early in the morning and leave it to sit until early afternoon (or later .. there's no rush).

Next, add the salt, olive oil and the additional flour and knead well. The dough should be moist and sticky. Leave the dough to mellow and rise for several more hours.

Divide the dough into 16 equal sized balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten each ball to a size that will fit your cast iron pan. I use a liberal amount of white flour for rolling each pita since they are fairly sticky.

Pre-heat your cast iron pan to a medium heat. Then carefully drop a pita into the pan so it lands flatly. You only get one chance ... it's nearly impossible to correct for a badly placed pita.

Flip the pita after about 10 seconds (before it starts to bubble). Watch the pita to make sure it doesn't burn. The pita should rise on it's own but you can help the process by lightly pressing the pita with a spatula. You can flip the pita as required so it doesn't burn on any one side.

It may take a bit of practice to get all the pitas to puff up perfectly or to find the right temperature for the pan. Once you have the knack to pita making it gets a whole lot easier.

Making pitas is a great way to spend some family time in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy them.