Pita Bread Syrian Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Place yeast into the work bowl of a stand mixer and add 1 cup warm water and 1 cup flour. Whisk together and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and make a loose sponge. Mixture will bubble and foam.
• Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and salt into sponge; add 1 3/4 cup flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.
• Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
• Wipe inside of bowl with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1 inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 pieces.
• Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.
• Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a work surface and top of a dough ball; gently pat dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4 inch thick. Let dough round rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
• Brush a cast-iron skillet with remaining 3/4 teaspoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay pita bread into hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds. Pita bread will begin to puff up and fill with hot air. Stack cooked breads on a plate; when cool enough to handle, break breads in half and open the pocket inside for stuffing.

HOMEMADE PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Make sponge: Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
• Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
• Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe.)
• Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
• Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat diskc with rolling pin. Roll to a 6-inch circle, then to an 8-inch diameter, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)
• Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

HOMEMADE PITA BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup lukewarm water and stir in yeast and sugar until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup flour and whisk together. Place the mixing bowl in a warm place, uncovered to form a lose sponge. Give it 15 minutes or so, the mixture should bubble.
• Now add salt, olive oil and almost all the remaining flour (keep about 1/2 cup of the flour for dusting later). Stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass (at this point, the dough has little to no gluten development and just looks like a sticky mess and you can easily pull bits off). Dust with a little flour, then knead the mixture inside the bowl for about a minute to incorporate any stray bits.
• Dust a clean working surface with just a little bit of flour. Knead lightly for a couple minutes or so until smooth. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then knead again for a couple more minutes. The dough should be a little bit moist, you can help it with a little dusting of flour, but be careful not to add too much flour.
• Clean the mixing bowl and coat it lightly with extra virgin olive oil and put the dough back in the bowl. Turn the dough a couple times in the bowl to coat with the olive oil. Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap then lay a kitchen towel over. Put the bowl in a warm place. Leave it alone for 1 hour or until the dough rises to double its size.
• Deflate the dough and place it on a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 7 to 8 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Cover with a towel and leave them for 10 minutes or so to rest.
• Using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a circle that's 8-9 inches wide and about a quarter inch thick. It helps to lift and turn the dough frequently as you roll so that dough doesn't stick to your counter too much. (If dough starts to stick, sprinkle a tiny bit of flour). If the dough starts to spring back, set it aside to rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. (Once you get going, you can be cooking one pita while rolling another, if you like). You have two options for baking the pita from here.
• Heat the oven to 475 degrees F and place a heavy-duty baking pan or large cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat. Working in batches, place the rolled-out pitas directly on the hot baking baking sheet (I was only able to fit 2 at a time). Bake for 2 minutes on one side, and then, using a pair of tongs, carefully turn pita over to bake for 1 minute on the other side. The pita will puff nicely and should be ready. Remove from the oven and cover the baked pitas with a clean towel while you work on the rest of the pitas.
• To cook pita on stovetop: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. (Test by adding a couple drops of water to the skillet, the skillet is ready when the beads of water sizzle immediately). Drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and wipe off any excess. Working with one pita at a time, lay a rolled-out pita on the skillet and bake for 30 seconds, until bubbles start to form. Using a spatula, flip the pita over and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side, until large toasted spots appear on the underside. Flip again and cook another 1-2 minutes to toast the other side. The pita is ready when it puffs up forming a pocket (sometimes, with this method, the pita may not puff or may only form a small pocket. Try pressing the surface of the pita gently with a clean towel). Keep baked pita covered with a clean towel while you work on the rest.

PITA BREAD (SYRIAN)

Steps:

• 1. Activate The Yeast: In a small bowl mix the yeast and sugar. Add 1/2 cup of warm water and gently stir. Let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes. It should be all foamy.
• 2. Mix The Dough: In a large bowl put salt and 3 cups of the flour. Mix thoroughly and form a well in the middle. slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of yeast and 1 cup of warm water until fully incorporated. It will be a wet dough. Don't worry about it. This is the difference between this and regular bread.
• 3. The Rise: In another large bowl put 1 to 2 tbs. of oil. Coat the sides of the bowl so the dough won't stick. Put the dough in the bowl and fully coat the dough to keep it from forming a crust while it rises. Cover the bowl with a heavy towel and place it in a warm, draft free spot for 2 or 3 hours. It should be about doubled in size when it's ready for kneading.
• 4. Oven: Preheat the oven to 475 deg. Place a large cookie sheet in the oven to heat up. If you have a pizza stone that works great. Just make sure it is heated up fully. It will take longer than the time to just preheat the oven.
• 5. Kneading The Dough: Put some of the 1 cup of flour on a flat surface and place the risen dough on it. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Add more flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky and comes together well.
• 6. Forming: After the kneading cut and form into small balls. They should make about an 8 inch circle when rolled out. Let them rest for 10 minutes. After they have rested, roll them out into 6 to 8 inch rounds about 1/4 inch thick
• 7. Baking: Place the rounds on the cookie sheet or stone and bake for about 2 or 3 minutes per side. DON'T walk away. They bake very fast. As soon as they puff up and have a light brown color it's time to flip them or take them out. You don't want to over bake them or they will come out crisp instead of soft. Do the first one by itself to check the times. Every oven is different. When you take them out let them cool for just 2 or 3 minutes and put them in a bag to keep them nice and soft. The puffing in the oven should form the "pocket" in the pita but it doesn't always. Don't worry about it. They still taste great.

QUICK AND EASY SYRIAN-LEBANESE-POCKET-PITA BREAD!

Steps:

• Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large sturdy bowl (hard plastic or stainless steel). Form a little well in the center.
• Heat the water in a microwave safe dish for one minute.
• Pour the water into the flour well and mix the ingredients with a spatula as far you can. Place a dish of cool water in a bowl next to you as you begin to knead by hand.
• Knead the dough in the bowl by hand for at least 5-10 minutes, dipping your fingertips into the bowl of water as you knead. This will help create a smooth, elastic finish. You know your dough is ready when the surface is smooth and doesn't have pock-marks. The dough will feel slightly sticky as you knead it, but should not stick to your hands.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut with a knife (or separate by hand) into equal sized pieces - 8 for larger rounds or 20 for small pitettes. Roll each piece into a smooth ball and lay on clean dish cloth or floured cutting board or surface, keeping them covered with another cloth.
• Once all of the balls are rolled and resting, cover them with a clean cloth and lightly pat the cloth with water on your finger tips to keep them moist, or spray lightly with a water mister. Let the balls rest for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes rest, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone or pizza pan on bottom rack inserted.
• As the oven preheats, roll each ball on a lightly floured surface into a flat round, no thicker than 1/4". The thinner the round, the better your pocket. Turn them over to roll them, trying to keep the round as best you can. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, dip your finger tips in a little flour and coat the surface of the round as you roll. Make sure the edges are rolled out equally and not thicker than the center. Lay each round on the cloth or floured surface to rest again as the oven preheats. Keep them in the order your rolled them.
• Once the oven is ready, bake each round (or several at a time depending on size) on your baking stone, being careful to place them BOTTOM SIDE UP for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. The rounds should start to bubble on top and will "poof" up with the pocket. Once the pocket is formed, remove them from the oven and place onto clean surface to cool. The bottoms will be just starting to brown as you remove them from the oven.
• Once completely cooled, they can be stored in a freezer bag and frozen until ready to use - they will thaw quickly on the counter.

SYRIAN SALAD

Steps:

• In a large salad bowl, combine the first 13 ingredients. Sprinkle with feta and Parmesan cheeses. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine dressing ingredients; shake well. Drizzle over salad; toss to coat.

PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Set a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine the warm water and yeast. Let it stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. *If you have never worked with active dry yeast before, please read up on how this works.*.
• In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together. While the machine is on, pour in the yeast mixture through the processor feed/hole. Then pour in the warm milk. Process the dough until it forms a ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough ball to the bowl. Turn the dough ball to coat all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Punch down the dough and cut it in half. then cut each half into 8 pieces and roll them into balls. Then flatten them into 6 inch rounds. Arrange the rounds on the work surface, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy - about 25 minutes.
• Using a lightly floured pizza peel (or floured spatula) slide 4 of the rounds onto the hot pizza stone and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the pitas puff up. Repeat with the remaining 4 rounds.
• Serve hot or wrap in foil to keep warm.
• *Note: the flattened, unbaked pita rounds can be frozen for up to 1 month. Let them thaw completely, then let them rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes before baking.

SYRIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough cycle; press Start.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds with a damp cloth and let rest.
• Roll dough into thin flat circles, about 8 inches in diameter. Cook two at a time on preheated baking sheets or a baking stone until puffed up and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Repeat for remaining loaves.

QUICK AND EASY HOMEMADE PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Pour yeast into 1/4 cup of the warm water. Add sugar, mix well, and let stand for 10 minutes.
• Sift the flour along with the salt into a bowl.
• Form a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining cup of warm water, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• Begin to mix with your hand, a wooden spoon, or the dough hook of a standing mixer to form a dough.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 to 15 minutes, or use the stand mixer and dough hook, until the dough is smooth and soft but not sticky. If needed, add more flour until the dough comes together nicely.
• Oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Turn to coat the entire surface with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put the dough in a warm, draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 475 F. Place a heavy baking sheet or baking stone on the lowest rack of the oven. With the help of a rolling pin, roll the dough out, then fold and roll again. Close like a book, roll again, and close again, repeating the process a few times to get the air bubbles out of the dough. Shape the dough in a rectangle of about 9 x 12 inches and about 1/2 inch thick.
• Divide the dough into 10 pieces and cover with a dampened towel.
• Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll and turn each ball as you would shape a pie crust. Each pita should be about 1/4 inch thick and about 7 inches in diameter.
• Sandwich each dough circle between floured cloths and let them rest while you roll the remaining dough balls.
• Lightly sprinkle the hot baking sheet or baking stone with flour. Place as many pitas as will comfortably fit.
• Bake for about 5 minutes or until they just begin to show some color, carefully flipping them about halfway through.
• Remove from the oven and cover with a clean kitchen towel until cooled. Repeat the baking process with the remaining dough. Serve with your favorites dishes, and store in a bread bag for up to three days.
• Enjoy!

PITA BREAD

Steps:

• In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir to blend. Let the yeast stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir in the salt. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated and the dough gathers into a ball; this should take about 4 minutes.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Place a large pizza stone on the lower oven rack, preheat the oven (and stone) to 500 degrees F.
• Punch the dough down, divide it into 8 pieces, and gather each piece into a ball; keeping all of them lightly floured and covered while you work. Allow the balls of dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes so they will be easier to roll out.
• Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into a circle that is about 8-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Make sure the circle is totally smooth, with no creases or seams in the dough, which can prevent the pitas from puffing up properly. Cover the disks as you roll them out, but do not stack them up. Put 2 pita rounds at a time on the hot pizza stone and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bread puffs up like a balloon and is pale golden. Watch closely; they bake fast. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes; they will naturally deflate, leaving a pocket in the center. Wrap the pitas in a large kitchen towel to keep them soft.