Pita bread or Arabic bread

Procedure

Pita bread or Arabic bread is very easy to prepare. For the dough WITH SOURDOUGH, put in a bowl the flour, add the sourdough to small pieces and the water. Knead, by hand or better with a knear or planetary, until the water has been absorbed and the dough begins to become homogeneous. Add salt first, kneading until absorbed, and then the oil. Once you get a homogeneous dough, transfer it to the worktop and knead by hand for 5 minutes vigorously, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

For the dough with FRESH BREWER'S YEAST it is enough to follow the same process but first dissolve the fresh brewer's yeast in a little water at 26 degrees (and here we go back to the kitchen thermometer that I've told you so many times to buy).

The dough with DRY BREWER'S YEAST is the simplest, because it is enough to add the brewer's yeast in granules to the flour and then proceed by joining the water and gradually as I described above.

Once you have made the dough, you can decide whether to cover it with food film and store it in the fridge overnight, so that the dough matures, or whether to leave in the day. In the first case, once you have completed rest in the refrigerator, pita bread should be brought back to room temperature and then it must rise until doubling. If you haven't put it in the fridge, just cover it with food film and wait for it to double.

When the dough has doubled, divide it into balls weighing 80-100 grams maximum. Round them up (pirlandole as for brioche or panettone) and cover with food film. The dough must double again, but it's going to take a little time.

When the dough balls will be doubled in volume, spread them with your fingertips on the worktop lightly sprinkled with semoless or flour. You have to get a flat disc, thin but not too (about half a centimeter). Cover the dough discs and leave to rise for 15-20 minutes.

For cooking, you can choose between the static oven at the highest temperature or (recommended) a cast-iron or lava stone plate. In this case, preheat the plate (better if with sheddingflamma on the stove) and, once hot, put on the pita bread and cover with a lid, so that the heat spreads evenly. When you see small bubbles forming on the surface, turn the pita and cook it for a few seconds on the other side. Then, turn it over again and let it cook over low heat and always covered: as you see in the VIDEO TUTORIAL, the surface of the pita will swell and the bread will look like a balloon. All cooking should last very little, 3-4 minutes maximum. Once cooked, put the pita on a wire rack. When you cook the other pite, stack them on the previous ones: this way the heat will keep the Arabic bread moist. Pite should be eaten fresh, because just made are very soft and yielding and you can open in half and stuff or even roll.