Description
This is a great pita bread recipe I got from a friend who works at a great Greek restaurant here in my town. Slice pita in half and fill pockets with your favorite filling, or for dipping, cut into wedges and pan fry in a little olive oil.
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 ¼ cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees F/40 to 45 degrees C)
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or as needed – divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a mixing bowl and allow to stand until the yeast forms a creamy foam
- about 5 minutes. Mix in 2 cups of flour
- salt
- and shortening; beat for 2 minutes with a fork. Stir in as much of the remaining 1 1/2 cup flour as needed.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic
- kneading in more flour if dough is sticky. Form into a ball
- cover with a kitchen towel
- and let rest in a warm area for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
- Divide dough into 12 equal portions; flour your hands and roll each piece into a ball. Cover dough balls with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Flatten the balls into rounds on a floured surface
- cover with kitchen towel
- and let rest 10 more minutes. Gently roll each dough ball into a circle about 6 inches in diameter on a floured surface. Place pita breads in a single layer on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven until the pita breads puff up
- 3 to 4 minutes. Flip breads over with a spatula
- return to oven
- and bake 2 more minutes. Let cool on wire racks before cutting pita breads in half and gently separating tops and bottoms to form pockets for filling.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Servings: 12