A while ago, on Tobi's 50th birthday, I made pita bread along with the Israeli dinner cooked. I like making pita bread ever since I learned how to make it on the First Naama's blog some 10 years ago. I have moved on from doing it on the pan to doing it in the oven, because unlike when I originally learned how to make the pita bread, when we had 2 kids aged 2 and 4, we now have 4 kids at home over the age of 7, one of them is definitely a teenager (checking by the clothing size, the appetite and the ever-changing mood….).

Anyways, Lynn, who was in that dinner, asked me to teach her how to make the pita bread. I am no expert – but my pitas do puff out, and they usually have a nice flavor into them. And I am very lazy, so – I kinda think everyone can make a pita bread (especially if you have a mixer to kneed…).

So, just so that we won't forget, here are some recipes ….

Notes:

1. I use dry yeast. No need to use quick yeast or give it special treatment. It'll work anyway.
2. I mix all the dry ingredients together. Yes, even the salt along with the yeast.
3. If you are in a rush, you don't need to let the dough rise, but if you have the time, it will benefit from letting it rise for at least an hour.
4. When the kids were young, I would make the dough one or twice a week, leave it in the refrigerator and when ever I needed I would take out some of it and either bake them or make them on the pan.

1. Put all the dry ingredients in the mixer and use the kneading hook to mix them together.
2. Add water and knead for 5-8 minutes. I usually add about 75% of the specified water amount to begin with and then add more as much as needed. The dough should not be too soft a watery, but not to dry as well.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 Fahrenheit (about 360 Celsius) . Leave a pan in the over to heat it.
4. Take some dough, roughly the size of a ping pong ball, and roll it into a ball. Cover all the balls using a towel, otherwise the dough will dry.
5. spread some flour on your working space. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough in to a round shape about 5 mm thick.
6. When you have 6 pita breads ready, put them on the pan and bake for 2 minutes on one side, then flip it to the other side for another 1-2 minutes (the dough "behave" differently every time depending on the dough, the oven and your mood…)
7. If you are not eating the pita right away cover it using a towel and when it is cooled down put it in a ziplock bag. This pitas don't stay fresh for long…
8. If you are making only a couple, you can switch from using the oven to heating a pan on the stove until it's very hot, placing the pita on one side for a 2 minutes, until it puffs out and then flipping to the other side for another 1-2 minutes.

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Recipe #1 – The First Naama

The original recipe from the First Naama is from this post (in Hebrew):

6 cups of whole wheat flour (840 grams)

1 tea spoon of salt

1 tea spoon of dried yeast

2.5 cups of water

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Recipe #2 – Smadar

When I am in a rush, like today, when Lynn came, I use this recipe, that I learned from Smadar (Yoav's pre-school teacher). This one works also if you want to do it on pan on an open fire (like bon fire), but you'll have to let it rise for at least 2 hours for that. On the other hand, kids can roll down the pita and it will still puff out – so I think it is a very good dough…

On regular days, I don't even let it rise. I use it as is….

5 cups of wheat flour (700 grams)

1 table spoon of salt

2 table spoon of dried yeast

2 table spoon of sugar

1.5-2 cups of water

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Recipe #3 Hadas's pizza dough

When I really want to impress, I use this recipe. You have to cover the dough with olive oil, then let it rise for an hour, then push it to let the air out and let it rise one more time. It takes longer, but it is worth the effort.

1 kilogram of wheat flour (7 cups)

1 tea spoon of salt

2 table spoon of dried yeast (22 grams)

1 tea spoon of sugar

6 table spoons of olive oil

1.5-2 cups of water

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