Overnight sourdough pita
They puff into a hollow pocket on their own, which never stops being satisfying to watch. An overnight cold ferment does the flavour work and the bake takes about four minutes.
Needs active starterCollected
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bread or plain flour | 500 g |
| Water, lukewarm | 300 g |
| Active starter, at peak | 100 g |
| Olive oil | 25 g |
| Fine sea salt | 10 g |
Method
Stir the starter, water and olive oil together until the starter has mostly broken up. It does not need to dissolve completely.
Add the flour and salt and mix to a dough. Knead briefly, just until it is smooth - this dough needs far less work than a loaf.
Cover and leave at room temperature until visibly risen and lighter, with small bubbles along the sides of the bowl. It should still hold its shape.
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. The cold slows the starter right down while the flavour carries on developing, and that is where pita gets its tang.
Divide into 15 pieces of about 60 g and roll each into a ball. Cover and rest 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes enough to roll out.
Roll each ball into a circle about 3 mm thick, no thicker. Keep the thickness even - a thin patch bakes through before the pocket can form, and that is the usual reason a pita stays flat.
Heat the oven as hot as it goes, 250 °C / 480 °F or more, with a baking stone or heavy upturned tray inside for at least 30 minutes.
Lay the rolled circles straight onto the hot surface. They balloon within a couple of minutes. Take them out while still pale - a browned pita is a stiff pita.
Stack them under a clean tea towel as they come out. The trapped steam keeps them soft and foldable.
If they will not puff
- Not hot enough. This is nearly always the reason. The surface has to be fiercely hot so steam forms instantly and blows the layers apart.
- Rolled unevenly, so the steam escapes through a thin spot.
- Rolled too thick, and the middle never sets in time.
- Dough was dry on top. Keep the balls covered while you work.
A flat pita is still an excellent flatbread. Nothing is wasted.
Keeping them
In a bag at room temperature for a couple of days. They freeze very well - reheat from frozen in a dry pan or a hot oven for a minute or two.
Collected, not yet baked by me
This one came from a baker I trust and is rewritten here in metric and plain language, but it is still on my own to-bake list. The method is sound; the exact timings are the bit I have not personally checked. Watch the dough rather than the clock, and tell me how it went so I can correct it.