Lebanese Pita Recipes

LEBANESE MEAT-STUFFED PITAS (ARAYES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a food processor, combine the onions, garlic, and parsley until finely minced. Remove to a large bowl and add in the beef, tomato, garam masala, pine nuts, and lemon juice. Season with salt. Mix with your hands until well combined.
• Arrange the pita quarters on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fill each quarter with about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture, flattening it out so the filling is even. Brush each quarter on both sides with a little olive oil. Sprinkle salt on top.
• Bake for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through. Pitas should be browned and crispy.

HOMEMADE PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Make sponge: Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
• Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
• Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe.)
• Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
• Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat diskc with rolling pin. Roll to a 6-inch circle, then to an 8-inch diameter, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)
• Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

LEBANESE PITA

Steps:

• Sift the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar together. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture. Pour in the lukewarm water. Mix by hand on a floured work surface until the dough comes together. Then knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes until smooth and the dough bounces back when you push into it. Drizzle the dough with olive oil and place in a warm spot covered with a damp towel. Let rise until the dough doubles in size; depending on the temperature, it could take 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and lay a baking tray in the oven to heat.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, cut the dough into 10 to 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then flatten each using a rolling pin. Use flour on the work surface so that it doesn't stick. Place 3 to 4 flattened pita on the hot tray and close the oven door immediately. Bake until puffed up, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

QUICK AND EASY SYRIAN-LEBANESE-POCKET-PITA BREAD!

Steps:

• Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large sturdy bowl (hard plastic or stainless steel). Form a little well in the center.
• Heat the water in a microwave safe dish for one minute.
• Pour the water into the flour well and mix the ingredients with a spatula as far you can. Place a dish of cool water in a bowl next to you as you begin to knead by hand.
• Knead the dough in the bowl by hand for at least 5-10 minutes, dipping your fingertips into the bowl of water as you knead. This will help create a smooth, elastic finish. You know your dough is ready when the surface is smooth and doesn't have pock-marks. The dough will feel slightly sticky as you knead it, but should not stick to your hands.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut with a knife (or separate by hand) into equal sized pieces - 8 for larger rounds or 20 for small pitettes. Roll each piece into a smooth ball and lay on clean dish cloth or floured cutting board or surface, keeping them covered with another cloth.
• Once all of the balls are rolled and resting, cover them with a clean cloth and lightly pat the cloth with water on your finger tips to keep them moist, or spray lightly with a water mister. Let the balls rest for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes rest, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone or pizza pan on bottom rack inserted.
• As the oven preheats, roll each ball on a lightly floured surface into a flat round, no thicker than 1/4". The thinner the round, the better your pocket. Turn them over to roll them, trying to keep the round as best you can. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, dip your finger tips in a little flour and coat the surface of the round as you roll. Make sure the edges are rolled out equally and not thicker than the center. Lay each round on the cloth or floured surface to rest again as the oven preheats. Keep them in the order your rolled them.
• Once the oven is ready, bake each round (or several at a time depending on size) on your baking stone, being careful to place them BOTTOM SIDE UP for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. The rounds should start to bubble on top and will "poof" up with the pocket. Once the pocket is formed, remove them from the oven and place onto clean surface to cool. The bottoms will be just starting to brown as you remove them from the oven.
• Once completely cooled, they can be stored in a freezer bag and frozen until ready to use - they will thaw quickly on the counter.

LEBANESE STREET SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Place onions in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Remove and pat dry; transfer to a large bowl. Add parsley to processor; pulse until minced. Stir into onions. Add beef, egg and salt; mix lightly but thoroughly., Slice pitas horizontally in half. Spread bottoms with meat mixture to edge. Replace pita tops; press lightly to adhere. Brush outsides of sandwiches with oil. Grill sandwiches, uncovered, over medium heat until a thermometer inserted into meat mixture reads 160°, 10-12 minutes, turning every 2 minutes. Cool slightly before cutting into quarters., Combine sauce ingredients; serve with sandwiches.