This recipe was courtesy of Paul Hollywood and was also extremely simple which was a welcome attribute considering it was my first attempt at homemade pittas! There are many homemade recipes which the supermarkets just cannot beat and this is certainly one of them. After making these I’m pretty confident in my suspicions that the shop bought pittas are in fact made from recycled cardboard…….
Serves 6
- 250g strong white bread flour
- 15g nigella seeds (or any other seed of choice e.g. cumin, caraway)
- 7g yeast sachet
- 120-140ml water
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Mix the flour, salt, yeast and seeds in a large bowl. Add a splash of oil and about 120ml of water.
- Use your fingers or a fork and bring it all together to form a dough. I didn’t need to add much more water but it will vary depending on your flour. Combine to form a dough that is sticky-ish but not too wet.
- Tip onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is elastic, smooth and soft.
- Place in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 250°C and place a baking tray or hot stone inside to warm through. Once doubled in size, knock back the air from the dough and divide into 6 pieces.
- Roll thinly into an oval shape. Remove the hot tray from the oven and quickly sprinkle it with flour before placing as many pittas on top as will fit and bake for about 5-7 minutes until they have puffed and are golden but not too crisp. Check after 5 minutes and turn over if they are still too soft on the underside.
- Repeat with the remaining dough and when cooked wrap in a tea towel to soften and cool a little. Slice open and fill with a filling of your choice….in this case pulled pork. These are also fantastic dipped into hummus or baba ganoush!
