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Bread-Machine Pittas

It's hard to beat fresh, home-made, pitta bread. This recipe makes about 11-12 pittas. 250g strong wholemeal flour 250g strong white flour 12g easy-bake yeast ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon onion seeds (Nigella) 5g salt 25g olive oil 320g water
  1. In order, put the yeast, two flours, baking powder, onion seeds, salt, oil and water into the bread machine
  2. Set the machine to the pizza-dough recipe and start
  3. Once finished, allow to prove in the machine for an additional 30-45 minutes
  4. Divide into 75-80g portions, flour well and roll out into ovals about 5mm thick
  5. Pre-heat a grill on maximum until very hot
  6. Meanwhile, remove the grill-pan rack (or turn upside down) and line the grill tray with foil
  7. Ensure that one side of the pitta is well floured and place down on this side into the pan - you should be able to get three in at once
  8. Place under the grill and cook for a few minutes until just turning brown (avoid them getting too dark). You will need to keep checking frequently, so don't wander off to do something else
  9. Turn over quickly and return to the grill
  10. Within a few tens of seconds, the pittas should start to puff up, so keep an eye on them at all times. If they look like they're about to catch fire on the grill flame or element, pull the grill pan out and let them deflate briefly
  11. Return to the grill and repeat (if necessary) until just starting to brown
  12. Remove from the grill and slice through one edge all the way through almost to the other side with a sharp bread knife - this should be easy as the pittas should still be puffed up a little
  13. Pile up and wrap in a teatowel and continue with the next batch until all pittas are cooked
Serve immediately whilst warm, or allow to cool, then remove from the teatowel and wrap in a plastic bag. They should keep for a day or so, and can be nicely revived by putting in a toaster and toasting for 30 seconds or a minute. They are also brilliant for freezing, as they're easy to use from frozen individually, by warming up in a toaster or microwave.