Pitta Bread
A traditional Arabic bread that has been made for over 3,000 years. Originally it was made with a sour culture in place of yeast and baked on olive domes set over fires.
Ingredients
- 500 g strong white flour plus extra for dusting
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 ml olive oil
- 30 g yeast
- 300 ml water
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with your hands to bind together.
- When a dough has formed tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.
- Put back in the bowl and rest the dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas mark 9 and put a lined baking tray inside to heat up.
- Tip the dough out onto the table and divide into 100 g/ 31⁄2 oz pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1 cm/1⁄2 inch thickness.
- Leave to rest on the table for 5 minutes, then place on the hot baking tray in the oven and bake for 5–10 minutes.
- The bread will balloon up, but when you bring them out of the oven they will collapse, forming the characteristic pockets of air.
