Pita Bread aka dinner saver!

One of my favorite things to make is pita bread.  It's easy, stores well, and when you can't figure out what to make for lunch and dinner, you can start with a pita and throw leftovers in it and make a delicious sandwich or panini.  Perfect! It works great with leftover fajitas, pesto and chicken, or just a simple grilled cheese (or any other combinations you might think of!).  I had one tonight fresh from the oven with cheese and pesto, yum!!!

Pita fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients:

1 T yeast (I used rapid rise)

2 T honey

2 1/3 - 3 cups lukewarm water

1 T salt

6-7 cups flour

Instructions:
1. Mix together the yeast,  honey, and 1/3 cup lukewarm water in a large bowl, let stand 10 minutes in a warm place.  
2. Add 4 cups flour, 2 cups water, and salt to the yeast mixture.  
3. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
4. Add half remaining flour to bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.  
5. Put contents of bowl onto floured board and and knead for approximately 10 minutes; adding more flour as necessary to make a medium stiff dough.  You will probably feel like you are adding a lot of flour as you knead, but don't worry, keep adding until the dough feels firm and becomes hard to knead.  
6. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover until doubled in volume (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours). 7. Punch down dough, turn onto floured board, knead briefly and then divide in 12 equal portions.  
8. Roll into 5"circles 1/4" thick
9. Preheat oven to 450 F; oven should be ready after pitas have risen for 10 minutes. 
10. Cover and let rise 10 minutes. I place them on floured parchment paper and cover with a damp paper towel.  This makes it easier to remove them later and keeps them moist (see picture below). 
11. Cook at 450 F for 8 - 10 minutes until light golden brown.
12. Remove and cut in half immediately (if they don't pop up completely it's much easier to cut them while they're hot from the oven rather than waiting). 
13. Let cool, then eat...or you can them into plastic bags and freeze. And enjoy!!!

Step 10 - Cover and let rise for 10 minutes