Pita Bread

 

This Pita bread recipe was converted from George Calombaris's recipe, it featured in the November 2015 issue of delicious. magazine. One of the important features of pita bread is the ability to make pockets and you can with these.

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

Makes 4 pita - they are best eaten on the day they are made.  

Ingredients

240 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

60 g Maize starch

1.5 tsp Salt

1.5 tsp Yeast (dried)

20 g Extra virgin olive oil

30 g Greek yoghurt

12 g Honey

275 g Warm water

 

Polenta - to dust

Olive oil spray

 

 

Method

Put salt, yeast, olive oil, yoghurt, honey and water in a mixing bowl (stand mixer is preferable). Briefly mix & let it sit while mixing together the flour & starch. 

In a separate bowl mix together 120 g of Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour & 30 g of maize starch. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients & mix for 2-3 mins. 

The original instructions were; "Cover with plastic wrap & chill for at least 12 hours or until doubled in size". I put my bowl outside for ~6 hours. When I first put it outside the temperature (outside) was ~10 C, it warmed up during the day to ~18 C. During the 6 hours the dough certainly doubled in size.

  • Preparing pita for lunch - start the initial dough & leave it to chill overnight in the fridge.
  • Preparing pita for dinner - start the initial dough in the morning & leave it in a relatively cool place for the day.

Mix together the remaining Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour & maize starch. Add this mix to the dough & beat for ~2-3 mins. The mixture will be sticky.

Line two trays with baking paper & sprinkle them with polenta.

Approximately 150 g of dough will be used per pita & it needs to be rolled out to ~5 mm thick. As the dough is a little sticky I found it easiest to roll it between 2 sheets of baking paper with polenta. Prepare a work surface with a piece of baking paper & sprinkle polenta on top. Put ~1/4 of the dough on the polenta, roll it around in the polenta to coat it all. Cover with another piece of baking paper. If need be sprinkle dough with a little more polenta. To ensure the dough is even in thickness follow this tip. Find a couple of spacers that are 5 mm in height (I used my 3 mm & 2 mm spacers together) and place them on either side of the dough. When rolling out the dough ensure the rolling pin is wide enough to span the dough and part of the two top placemats. My rolling pin is large – 61 cm from handle to handle. Initially when rolling the pin may not necessarily rest on the spacers, however, when the dough is the same thickness as the spacers it will. At this stage the dough should be all the same thickness. 

Transfer the rolled out dough to one of the lined baking trays. I usually take off the top piece of baking paper, lift up the bottom piece from one side, flop the dough on to my hand & then transfer it to the tray.

Repeat for the remaining dough.

Prick the rolled dough with a fork & put the trays in a warm place for ~30 mins or until slightly risen.

Heat a frypan over medium heat (one of the hardest things is working out how hot is medium heat). Lightly spray with oil & cook the dough for ~3 mins on one side then turn over & cook for another 2. Set aside.

Repeat for the remaining dough.

Set the pita aside until ready to eat them. Brush/spray the pita with olive oil spray & heat briefly (30 secs each side) on a chargrill or BBQ prior to serving.

Serve them warm with ...................................

Simply enjoy!