Pita bread recipe anyone can make

This is a pita bread recipe straight from the Arabic Mediterranean tradition that anyone can make at home. Bread is a pillar of the Mediterranean diet and most everyone seems to have a weakness for those aromatic fresh flat loaves just out of the oven...

Pitta bread

As the wise Indians say, fresh bread has the maximum amount of prana or life energy. An Ayurvedic Indian doctor living in The Netherlands was horrified that Northern Europeans kept their bread in the refrigerator for one week. "No prana", he said. With this delicious pita bread recipe this won't happen to you.

In the Mediterranean bread older than twelve hours is frown upon and it's used, for instance, in garlic soups, the Catalan bruschetta, or an authentic fattoush salad that uses leftover pitta bread.

Ingredients for this pita bread recipe

Serves 10 loaves

• 2½ cups (550 g) all purpose flour
• Additional flour for sprinkling
• 1¼ cups (275 ml) water – lukewarm
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Pita bread recipe preparation instructions

1. In a cup or small bowl combine the yeast with ½ cup lukewarm water. Stir until the yeast is dissolved. Set aside for about 7 minutes to proof.


2. Add 2½ cups flour to a bread or large mixing bowl. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon.


3. Make a small well in the center of the flour and pour the yeast mixture and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix it with the flour until you get a compact dough.


4. Place the dough on a lightly floured wooden surface and slowly add water as needed. Continue kneading the dough for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, elastic and it doesn't stick to your hands. At the end, shape it into a ball.


5. Wipe a large bowl with half a tablespoon of olive oil. Place the dough in it and rub it gently against the bowl walls so as to cover it uniformly with olive oil. Cover with a tea towel. Put it in a warm draft free area and allow it to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.


6. Punch the dough down and let it rise again for 10 minutes.


7. Cut the dough into 10 pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball.


8. Sprinkle a little flour on a wooden surface. With a wooden rolling pin, roll each ball into a flat round loaf 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter and about 1/8 inch (4.5 mm) thick. Cover the flattened dough rounds with a cloth and let them rise a little bit for 20 minutes.


9. Preheat oven to 450°F (230ºC). Slightly flour a baking sheet and place it in the oven for 5 minutes. Now place the first batch of dough rounds on a baking sheet. Bake on the lower rack for 3 minutes or until the dough forms a puffed up ball. Turn it over and leave in the oven for about 2 more minutes.


10. Remove from the oven and stack the pita bread loaves on top of each other. Wrap the pita bread loaves in a clean tea towel until ready to serve. This will keep them warm and soft.