Instant Recipes: Week 5: Pita Bread, Naan, and More

5/9/21

Week 5: Pita Bread, Naan, and More

Over the past few weeks, we've made a lot of loaves of European bread. But bread goes well beyond that. For many of us, flatbreads are the type of bread we've only ever bought from the grocery store and haven't considered baking ourselves. Homemade Middle Eastern pita, Indian naan, and other flatbreads are not that difficult to make at home, and once you taste these fresh out of the oven, you won't be going back to store-bought any time soon.

Ingredients

•	2 teaspoons active dry yeast
•	1 1/4 cups warm water, divided (about 110 F)
•	2 teaspoons granulated sugar
•	3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
•	1/2 teaspoon salt
•	1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl

How to Make Pita Bread

1. Gather the ingredients. Pour yeast into 1/4 cup of the warm water; add the sugar and let stand for 10 minutes. Sift 2 1/2 cups of the flour with the salt into a bowl.

2. Form a well in the center of the flour; pour in yeast mixture and remaining 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Begin to mix with your hand, wooden spoon, or dough hook of a stand mixer, adding remaining flour as needed.

3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 to 15 minutes (or use the machine and dough hook), until the dough is smooth and soft but not sticky. Oil a large bowl; place dough in the bowl and turn to coat the entire surface with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put the dough in a warm, draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

4. Preheat the oven to 475 F. Place a heavy baking sheet or baking stone on the lowest rack of the oven. Roll the dough out, then fold and roll again. Do this a few times to get the air bubbles out of the dough. Divide into balls about 2 1/2 ounces each (approximately 5 tablespoons of dough) and cover with a dampened towel.

5. Roll each ball into a circle on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, rolling and turning the dough as you would a pie crust. The circles should be about 1/4-inch thick and about 7 inches in diameter. Sandwich each dough circle between floured cloths and let them rest while you roll the remaining dough balls.

6. Sprinkle the hot baking sheet or baking stone lightly with flour. Place a few of the circles on the stone or baking sheet (or as many as will comfortably fit in the pan). Bake for about 5 minutes or until they just begin to show some color, carefully flipping them about halfway through. Remove from the oven and cover with a clean kitchen towel until cooled.