Pita Bread

Pita bread is one of those everyday staples that rewards a little patience in the kitchen. Made from a simple dough, it puffs dramatically in a hot oven to form the hollow pocket that makes it so useful at the table.

There is something quietly therapeutic about working with yeast: the kneading, the proving, the baking. Pita is an easy introduction if you have not baked with yeast before, and a satisfying one if you have.

A bread worth making at home

Homemade pita is not merely better than the supermarket version; it is a different thing altogether. Once you have baked your own, the pre-packed sort loses much of its appeal. The breads come out of the oven light and beautifully puffed, ready to be eaten while still warm.

A baking stone gives particularly good results, though a baking tray will do the job perfectly well. A stand mixer takes the effort out of kneading, but doing it by hand is entirely manageable, and either way the results justify the work.

A staple across the Middle East and Mediterranean

Pita, sometimes called pittot, is central to the daily diet of many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. It is far more than a pocket bread. As the food writer Janna Gur has observed, it is the mainstay of the way Israelis eat: anything can go into a pita, from chocolate spread — a favourite school snack — to a full lunch of schnitzel with salad and chips. It also has another essential role, mopping up hummus, tahini, labneh, aubergine and other dips, spreads and salads. Above all, Gur notes, pita must be oven-fresh or it is no good.

How to serve it

Pita is endlessly versatile. Serve it with dips such as hummus, beetroot hummus, baba ganoush or dukkah, stuff it generously with falafel and salad, or set it alongside a tagine to mop up the juices.

Simple, tasty and quick to make — the only thing left to do is bake.