Dress Up Your Sandwiches: Homemade Pita Bread
By Jo Ann Gardner
August/September 2003
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Photo by Joe Coca
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This simple recipe has been adapted from Living with Herbs (Countryman, 1997) by Jo Ann Gardner. MAKES 12 PITA ROUNDS
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• 1 tablespoon regular baking yeast (1 packet)
• 1 scant tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups warm water
• 6 to 7 cups unbleached white flour or part whole-wheat flour
1. Mix yeast, salt and sugar with ½ cup warm water. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Stir the mixture to make sure yeast is completely dissolved (it should be foaming). Add the rest of the water and 4 cups of flour, then set the dough in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes).
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch down dough, cut it into 12 pieces and roll each out to 1/4-inch thickness. Pat each into a roughly round shape. Gently press your fingertips into the top of the dough to make small indentations, then brush each round with Herbed Oil. Bake immediately for about 8 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the oil sizzling.
3. To use as sandwich bread, gently separate the top and bottom crusts, let cool, then fill as desired. Extra bread can be frozen.
Jo Ann Gardner is an avid gardener, cook and frequent contributor to The Herb Companion. She and her husband Jigs recently co-authored Gardens of Use and Delight (Fulcrum, 2002), and she is currently working on a book about silver plants.
Click here for the main article, Dress Up Your Sandwiches with Herbs.