Chef Reem Assil’s Arab Bread

Prep: 35 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 8 Servings

It’s amazing to think that pita bread (or, as we call it, khobz arabi) became popular as an American food within my lifetime. While I was growing up, it was a rarity to find it unless we made our way to the Arab markets. My mom used to carve out some special room in the freezer to store the stacks we needed for our weekend breakfast mezze or for gatherings of guests. For those, she would flip the flat rounds back and forth over the open flame of our stove, filling the kitchen with the smell of fresh toasty bread.

Ingredients

1 recipe Basic Yeasted Dough (recipe below) or Basic Sourdough Dough
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Instructions

Divide the prepared risen dough into 10 pieces (about 140 grams each). Shape the pieces into rounds, cover with a clean kitchen towel (or brush the dough with a bit of oil and cover gently with plastic wrap), and let rest for 20 minutes. (Alternatively, If you are not baking right away, you can also shape and set aside in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours until you are ready to bake.)
Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven and place a baking stone on the rack if you have one. Heat the oven to 500°F for at least 45 minutes. Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven to heat while you roll out the dough.
Place the dough rounds on a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle them with flour, and pat each round into a 4-inch disk. Working your way around the rim of each disk, use your thumb and index finger to pinch the edges and stretch out the dough. (If the dough is resistant, allow the round to rest, covered with plastic wrap or a dish towel, for another 5 to 10 minutes.) Once you have pinched around the whole circle, sprinkle with a light dusting of flour. Continue the process for the remaining disks.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each round, up and then down once, shift a quarter turn and repeat the process, dusting with flour as needed, until you have an 8-inch disk. Continue the process for the remaining disks. Let the disks rest for another 5 minutes. If space is limited, stagger your disks on top of each other, dusted with an ample amount of flour, or just roll out a few at a time.
Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven, flip over, and sprinkle with a thin layer of flour. Place 2 dough rounds on the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake until the pita rises into a bubble and you see pleasing spots of brown, 3 to 4 minutes. (If you have a baking stone and a pizza peel, use the peel to transfer the dough rounds directly onto the baking stone for baking instead.)
Transfer the pitas to a wire rack in a single layer so they keep their shape. Repeat baking the remaining pitas on the same hot baking sheet. Enjoy this bread with all of your favorite mezze dishes.