I’ve made pita before, but until now I had never worked with spelt. This ancient grain brings a delicious, nutty flavor to the party. I’m glad I tried it.
For the preferment I combined the spelt flour, water, and yeast.
This was a very short preferment, so I mixed in the remaining ingredients after just 15 minutes.
This dough did not need to be kneaded, so I immediately set it aside for an hour to rise. I put my baking stone in the oven and started the oven preheating during this time.
After the bulk rise I divided the dough into 8 pieces and rolled each piece into a ball.
The balls rested for 15 minutes while the oven finished preheating, then I rolled them out into rounds. The spelt flour is very extensible, and I rolled the first two pita much too thin, but the last 6 were a reasonable size and thickness.
I baked two pita at a time on my baking stone. I flipped them after a minute or two, once they had puffed on the first side.
The finished pita were quite blonde. Since colour = flavor, I chose to cook the pita over my gas stove for a few seconds before serving. This helped both the flavor and texture of the pita.
When the pita were done I made some fillings and enjoyed a delicious dinner.
Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.
A Baker's Education 