Nothing store bought can compare to the warm, pillowy goodness that is homemade pita bread. That feeling of success when your dough puffs up in the oven and you know you are going to be to be able to stuff it to the gills with something delicious? Priceless! A great big thank you to David Tanis and NYT cooking for the excellent recipe that I make over and over again.
Now imagine stuffing said pita with a super fresh chickpea salad and slathering it with a garlicky yoghurt sauce. So good. This whole situation is like ordering the veggie option at you favorite döner shop (we’re big on döner here in Berlin!), only 10 times better!
Head on over to the link in our bio or to gather-be.com for the recipe.
xoxo Donata
Homemade Pita Bread
Ingredients
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
35 grams whole-wheat flour (1/4 cup), preferably freshly milled
310 grams unbleached all-purposed flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation
Make sponge: Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe.)
Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat diskc with rolling pin. Roll to a 6-inch circle, then to an 8-inch diameter, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)
Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.
Ingredients Salad
1 1/4 cups (25 g) fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 english cucumber, diced
9 oz (250 g) cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
15 oz (265 g, 1 can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
freshly ground pepper
Yoghurt sauce
5,3 oz (150 g) yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili flakes
Preparation
Place the ingredients for the yoghurt sauce in bowl and mix until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
Place the cucumbers, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and cilantro in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
Drizzle over the salad. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste and toss to combine.
When the pita bread is ready, cut the pita in half and fill both sides with chickpea salad.
Drizzle generously with yoghurt sauce and enjoy!
