Easy Sourdough Pita Bread

Step 1

In the morning mix together the starter, flour and water for the sourdough starter. Tip it into a clean jar and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (this may take approximately 6 hours)

Step 2

In a large bowl, mix the flour and water for the pita, and add in the oil, salt and doubled sourdough starter. Mix it well together with a fork to form a shaggy dough. Tip the dough out onto a clean bench and knead the dough by hand for 5-7 minutes until it becomes a smooth dough ball.

Step 3

Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with a plate and let it ferment at room temperature for 3-4 hours. In a warm kitchen with temperatures above 25°C, a 3-hour ferment may be sufficient, whilst dough in a kitchen with a temperature below 20°C will be better with a 4-hour ferment. The dough is not expected to rise much at all. Once fermented, it is placed in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 36 hours.

Step 4

Baking day - Preheat an oven and an oven tray to 230°C/450°F fan-bake or 250°C/480°F regular oven.

Step 5

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured bench and cut it into 8 even pieces. Once the oven is at temperature, roll one piece of dough out into a 5mm (just under 1/4 inch) thick circle. Place the dough circle onto the hot tray and bake it for about 3 minutes until the pita has puffed up. Remove the tray from the oven, and place the baked pita in a clean tea towel to cool.

Step 6

Repeat with the remaining pita bread, but allow the oven to come back to temperature before baking each pita.