Wholemeal Pittas Recipe

Makes:

8 large pittas

Naomi says: “These nutty, wholesome pittas are great to have stashed in the freezer. They make a satisfying meal, stuffed with salad, hummus and meatballs. The trick with shaping is to roll either end out a little, turn the pin 45°, roll across the middle and then do the same in the other direction, so you roll an X shape. This helps the pitta to form more of an oval. Try to roll them as evenly as possible and cook them on an almost smoking cast iron pan. Then after a couple of turns over and back, start tapping with a bunched-up cloth and they should puff up, to create that pocket to fill with good things.”

Ingredients

For the sponge

60g buckwheat flour
100g lukewarm water (40C/104F)
3g fast acting yeast

For the dough

80g buckwheat flour
200g white teff flour
60g tapioca starch
10g ground psyllium husk
3g salt
280g lukewarm water (40°C/104°F)

Equipment

A heavy, cast iron frying pan, Comal or Tawa

Method

1. Mix the sponge ingredients and set aside for 45-60 minutes until risen.

2. Whisk flours, starch, psyllium and salt until combined, add water and sponge and beat until a smooth, sticky dough forms. Set aside for 5 minutes to firm up.

3. Cut the dough into 8 pieces and roll into smooth balls on an unfloored surface, using your hand in a claw shape.

4. Flour the surface and flour two or three trays. Roll out the dough into long oval shapes, about 5mm or ¼ inch thick. Make sure they are even and do not roll the edges too thin or they will be crispy when cooked.

5. Lay the pittas on the floured trays to prove for 60-90 minutes, until the surface looks slightly puffy, or you can see the odd bubble. They won’t puff much.

6. Heat a cast iron pan until a water droplet skips on the surface, or turns to steam. Make a pad with a clean tea towel, for patting the pittas.

7. Carefully pick up a pitta, using a spatula to help. Brush off or blow off excess flour, but don’t damage the dough. Place the pitta floury-side down in the pan. Leave for 30 seconds, loosen with the spatula and flip over for 30 seconds.

8. Flip over again and press the pitta a couple of times with the cotton pad, lift your hand quickly to help the pitta puff. When it starts puffing, pat the area to encourage the whole thing to fill up. Turn the pitta over again and watch to see it doesn’t burn either side.

9. After a few minutes when you can’t see any patches of dark dough and all, or almost all the pitta is puffed, place it on a cooling rack and cook the next pitta.

10. You can bake pittas in a 260°C/500°F oven with a baking stone. Sprinkle trays with water. They may puff up, but not as reliably as cooking in a cast iron pan. Bake until puffed or around 8 minutes.

11. Any pittas you won’t eat that day, tear in half before freezing and toast from frozen. Or figure out how to toast them whole.

Recipe extracted from Bread: Gluten Free by Naomi Devlin. Available now from Amazon.

Read the Your Food articles archive here...