Pitot - Israeli Pita Bread
October 8th, 2018
This Recipe creates 8 servings
Prep Time: 02 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
I initially discovered Pitot at a Jewish Vegetarian restaurant in Lower Manhattan. It is the perfect companion for Shakshouka, Hummus, or as a wrap for a tasty Gyro.. After a bit of trial and error, I have reverse engineered the recipe so that you can create these in your own kitchen.
Ingredients:
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4 Cups (17.5 Ounces/500 Grams) of Bread Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Table Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1.5 Cups Water (12 Ounces/350 Grams)
Additional Olive oil
Directions:
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In the mixer bowl, add the Flour, Yeast, Sugar, Salt, and the Baking Powder. Use a whisk or spoon and mix until thoroughly blended.
Heat the Water to 110°F. Add the Water to the Flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed until fully mixed.
Continue to mix and knead the dough for another 5 minutes, until the dough comes together in a single ball and cleans the sides of the the bowl.
Turn out the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with a lid, Tea Towel, or plastic wrap.
Leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in volume.
Punch down the dough. Knead a few times, then divide into 8 evenly-sized balls. (Each dough ball will weigh about 110 Grams.)
Place a pizza stone, a cast-iron grill surface, or a large heavy cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven.
Pre-heat the oven to 500° Fahrenheit.
After the oven reaches the set temperature, continue to heat empty for an additional 30 minutes to fully heat the pizza stone.
Meanwhile, lay out a large square of parchment paper.
Work each ball into a thin disc, about 8 inches wide. Hand-stretch each Pitot until it is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
Place the Pitots on the parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place while the oven heats.
Place a few of the Pitots onto the Pizza Stone. Arrange them so that they are not touching each other.
Bake until each Pitot puffs up and bakes. The Pitot should be removed from the oven before it becomes brown and crispy. Depending on your oven, this will take about 4 minutes.
Cool: Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean tea towel to cool.
OR...
Stretch the dough into a single large flatbread and cook it at 500° Fahrenheit using a Pizza Stone. It should be ready to eat in about 10 minutes.
