Embark on a culinary journey to the heart of the Mediterranean with our versatile pita bread recipes. From the classic flatbread to delectable stuffed variations, pita bread offers a treasure trove of options to satisfy every palate.
Dive into the art of creating traditional pita bread with our step-by-step guide, ensuring perfectly puffed pockets that pair wonderfully with your favorite fillings. Discover the secrets to crafting the ideal dough, achieving the perfect balance of soft and chewy textures.
Elevate your pita bread experience with our collection of creative stuffed pita recipes. Indulge in the savory delight of our spinach and feta-filled pita, where tender spinach, creamy feta, and aromatic herbs blend harmoniously. Embark on a taste adventure with our succulent chicken shawarma pita, featuring tender chicken marinated in a symphony of Middle Eastern spices.
For a vegetarian delight, immerse yourself in the flavors of our roasted vegetable pita, showcasing a vibrant array of roasted vegetables nestled in a warm pita pocket. Quench your sweet cravings with our Nutella-stuffed pita, a heavenly combination of rich Nutella and crispy pita bread.
Whether you're planning a cozy family dinner or hosting a vibrant party, our pita bread recipes promise to delight and impress. Each recipe is carefully crafted to ensure that every bite is a celebration of taste and texture. So, prepare to embark on a culinary expedition, exploring the diverse flavors and possibilities that pita bread has to offer.
CHEF JOHN'S PITA BREAD
Unlike lots of other baked products which are better from a bakery, this is so far superior to the stuff you get at the grocery store, it's not even close. And in addition to being delicious to eat, it's also extremely easy to make!
Provided by Chef John
Categories Bread Yeast Bread Recipes Flat Bread Recipes
Time 3h15m
Yield 8
Number Of Ingredients 7
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.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 186.6 calories, Carbohydrate 33.1 g, Fat 3.6 g, Fiber 1.3 g, Protein 4.8 g, SaturatedFat 0.5 g, Sodium 510.9 mg, Sugar 0.1 g
HOMEMADE PITA BREAD RECIPE
My family's authentic, fool-proof pita bread recipe is easy to make and requires a few ingredients you may already have on hand! Mix up the very simple dough, let it rise, and experience the magic of fresh, warm, perfectly puffy homemade pita bread. Baking and stovetop instructions included!
Provided by Suzy Karadsheh
Categories Pita Bread
Time 1h48m
Number Of Ingredients 6
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.
Nutrition Facts : ServingSize 1 whole pita, Calories 205 calories, Sugar 0.4 g, Sodium 1.6 mg, Fat 4 g, SaturatedFat 0.6 g, TransFat 0 g, Carbohydrate 36.4 g, Fiber 1.5 g, Protein 5.2 g, Cholesterol 0 mg
MAKE AHEAD PITA BREAD
Fresh homemade pita - made with white and whole wheat flours - are easy to make and delicious. They are best when baked on a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles but you can also place them on baking sheet or other heavy skillet or griddle at least 9 inches in diameter. Pita bread can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw first, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350F oven before serving. This recipe is great to use for a Lite-Bleu meal. All Lite-Bleu recipes are complete meals that we designed for our weight loss diet.
Provided by 2Bleu
Categories Breads
Time 24m
Yield 16 Pitas, 16 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 6
Steps:
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bread bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add whole wheat flour, then 1 cup white flour. Stir 100 times (one minute) in the same direction to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this sponge rest for at least 30 minutes or as long as 2 hours.
- Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add remaining white flour, one cup at a time (more if needed). When the dough is too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bread bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least double in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
- Gently punch down. NOTE: If at this time you want to save the dough in the refrigerator for baking later, simply wrap it in a plastic bag that is at least three times the size of the dough, pull the bag together, and secure it just at the opening of the bag. This will give the dough a chance to expand when it is in the refrigerator (which it will do). From day to day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need and keep the rest in the refrigerator, for up 5 days. The dough will smell slightly fermented after a few days, but this simply improves the taste of the bread. Dough should be brought to room temperature before baking.
- Place unglazed quarry tiles, or a large baking stone or two baking sheets, on a rack in the bottom third of your oven, leaving a one inch gap all around to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Divide dough in half, then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8" in diameter and about 1/4" thick. NOTE: You may wish to roll out all eight before starting to bake. Cover rolled out breads, but do not stack.
- Bake 2 at a time (or more if your oven is larger) directly on quarry tiles or baking sheets. Bake each bread for 3-4 minutes, until the bread has gone into a full "balloon" or until it is starts to turn lightly golden, whichever happens first. NOTE: Your bread may not go into a full "balloon" but don't worry, it will still taste great. The more you bake pitas the more you will become familiar with all the little tricks and pitfalls, and your breads will more consistently balloon.
- Remove pitas from the oven and place on a rack for for a few minutes to let cool slightly (I leave them on the rack until the next two are ready to come out of the oven), then wrap breads in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the breads soft).
Nutrition Facts : Calories 126.5, Fat 2.1, SaturatedFat 0.3, Sodium 437.9, Carbohydrate 23.4, Fiber 1.5, Sugar 0.1, Protein 3.5
MAKE AHEAD FRENCH TOAST
We have made this French Toast for Christmas brunch for twenty four years! It originally came from the East Coast. If you like your French toast firmer, then cut back on the milk.
Provided by Debbie Tate
Categories 100+ Breakfast and Brunch Recipes French Toast Recipes
Time 14h10m
Yield 8
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream and vanilla. Dip bread slices into egg mixture and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a small bowl, combine butter, sugar, maple syrup and pecans. Spoon mixture over bread.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 502.8 calories, Carbohydrate 51.8 g, Cholesterol 161.6 mg, Fat 29.3 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 11 g, SaturatedFat 12 g, Sodium 346.8 mg, Sugar 33.4 g
Tips:
- Use a stand mixer with a dough hook to make the dough. This will save you time and effort.
- If you don't have a stand mixer, you can make the dough by hand. Just be sure to knead it for at least 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then flatten it into a circle.
- Place the pita bread on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until it is golden brown.
- Let the pita bread cool slightly before serving.
Conclusion:
Make-ahead pita bread is a delicious and convenient option for busy weeknights. It can be made ahead of time and frozen for up to 3 months. When you're ready to serve, simply thaw the pita bread and warm it in the oven or microwave. Pita bread is a versatile food that can be used for sandwiches, wraps, or as a side dish. It's also a great way to add some extra fiber to your diet.
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