Spicy & Creamy Home Made Herb Pitas
ingredients:
For the Pitas
500g AP Flour
8g baking powder
12g Kosher Salt
12g granulated sugar
20g instant dry yeast
300g water
Extra virgin olive oil
For the Creamy Spread
1 cup Labneh
1 cup sour cream
1 drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of kosher salt
For the Spicy Herb Sauce
1 cup parsley & cilantro stems (finely chopped)
1 cup parsley leafs
1 cup cilantro leafs
2 chiles Jalapeños (Or De Arbol if you can find them), finely chopped.
1/2 red onion (diced)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
instructions:
In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and instant dry yeast, mix well.
if you’re unsure about the freshness of your yeast, proof it in a bit of water and sugar. If it doesn’t foam after 5 to 7 minutes, go get new yeast!
Add your water and drizzle of olive oil. Give a mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until it comes together in a ball.
Turn your dough onto a clean work surface and begin kneeading with your hands for about 7 to 10 minutes until it looks completely homogenized, elastic and shiny.
Wash the bowl where you put together your dough ingredients, dry it well and drizzle a bit of olive oil onto it, making sure most of the bowl is coated in a bit of oil.
Place your ball of dough in the bowl and coat it as well with a bit of olive oil. Cover the bowl and let rest for about an hour in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
In the meantime, in a medium bowl, combine your Labneh, sour cream, olive oil and salt. Mix well until you have a mixture that is soft and creamy. Taste and if it needs more salt, add as necessary.
Take both your cilantro and parsley sprigs and reserve the stems. Finely chop and reserve in a bowl. You’ll add these to your dough, once it’s risen.
Roughly slice the leafy part of your cilantro and parsley so you’re left with big, distinct leafs. Combine and place in a large bowl. Add your diced half red onion and your chopped chiles.
Add the 2 tbsps of olive oil, the 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and the salt. Give everything a very good mix. (Using your hands will be the best tool, as massaging the herb leafs against the salt, oil and vinegar allows everything to pickle better and more evenly, just make sure to thoroughly was hour hands later with soap before touching any sensitive part of your body!)
After your dough has risen, start heating your cast iron skillet. You’ll want it as hot as possible for when you have your pitas formed.
Add your finely chopped herb stems to the risen dough and knead to combine again. You’ll deflate the dough in the process.
Once you have a ball of dough with herb stems equally distributed, you’ll slice the ball in half, and then each slice in halves until you’re left with 8 equal pieces of dough.
Form them into balls and roll each one of them out using a rolling pin or a bottle of wine, using sprinkled flour as necessary so they don’t stick. Make sure they’re thin but not too thin, as if you go too far, the dough will start to make holes where the herb stems are. If you go too far, form them into a ball again and start over. Rest them on top of each other and don’t start cooking them until you have all your pitas formed.
Brush the top part of your pita with olive oil and place it in the hot cast iron skillet. Wait about 2 to 2, 1/2 minutes, brush the other side with olive oil as well and then using tongs, flip them over. They should have nice charred, leoparding on each side.
Rest them in a big plate with a clean cloth or kitchen towel. Try covering them up as much as you can with the towel. This will prevent them from drying.
Once ready, to plate smear the labneh & sour cream evenly on half a pita and top with the spicy herb salad. Fold the pita in half, it’ll stay folded thanks to the filling. Place in a big plate and repeat with the rest to serve.
