Pita bread

Tonight I wanted to have some grilled lamb in pita bread, but there wasn't much lamb at the supermarket, courtesy of the Queensland floods, so I am going to use chicken instead.

Pits, pitta, pizza, pide, pissaladiere - they're all the same thing, Mediterranean flat bread.  Very easy to make, and much nicer than those wrapped in plastic supermarket varieties, kept 'fresh' for months by the addition of various anti-mould chemicals and anti-humidity sachets.  Yukkety yuck.  Pita bread doesn't take long to cook, so you can throw it all together when you get home, and 90 minutes later it's ready to cook.  Pita bread should be eaten straight from the oven, warm, soft, and steaming when you tear into it.  Not the tough, chewy and tasteless version from the supermarket.

Ingredients:

225g strong white flour
140 ml lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried yeast
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Mix everything together and knead for 8-10 minutes, or cheat as I do and use a machine.  Leave it in an oiled covered bowl in a warm area for 1 hour.  Punch it down, and roll into 4-6 balls.  Lightly flour and leave them under a tea towel for 5-10 minutes , then roll them out into 12-15cm diameter rounds.  If you don't leave them to rest for a few minutes, they will be tough and leathery and difficult to roll out, so this point is important.  It's exactly the same tip if you're rolling out a pizza.  Once they are rolled out, make sure they are lightly floured and leave covered for 20 minutes with a tea towel.  Pre-heat the oven to 230 C.

Put them in the oven on a pizza stone or tray, it doesn't matter as along as it's hot.  You will need to do them in batches 2-3 at a time.  After 3-5 minutes, they will puff up like a balloon.  I leave them for no more than a minute at this point, otherwise they will go brown and crunchy.  That's ok, but I prefer them soft and white.  Remove them from the oven and wrap in a tea towel to keep them soft and warm.

Sometimes I cook them directly on the barbecue grill or in a hot frying pan (no oil) instead.  This method will give you a grilled flat bread, less likely to puff up, and more like the bread used to wrap souvlaki.

In case anyone is interested in the chicken/lamb marinade, it's extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, a minced garlic clove, chopped fresh oregano, salt and pepper.  I never bother with amounts, just don't skimp on the oil.