Whole grain pita

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 2.5 cups warm water (about 40°C)
• 2 cups whole grain flour
• 4 cups premium wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1-2 tbsp. l. olive oil

Preparation:

1. You will need a large mixing bowl, a rolling pin, unglazed ceramic tiles, or several baking sheets (a cast iron or other heavy skillet at least 9 inches in diameter can be substituted).
2. In a large bowl, add the yeast to the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Add one cup of whole-wheat flour, then one cup of all-purpose flour. Stir 100 times in one direction for one minute to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this dough rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 2 hours.
3. Sprinkle the dough with salt and add olive oil. Mix well. Add a cup of premium flour.
   
   When the dough becomes too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured cutting board and knead for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Return the dough to the lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
   
   Let the dough rise until it's about doubled in size, about 1.5 hours. Gently punch it down. The dough can be made ahead of time and stored, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
4. If you want to refrigerate the dough at this stage and bake the pitas later, simply place it in a plastic bag about three times the size of the dough and tie it at the top. This will allow the dough to rise in the refrigerator (which it will). Day by day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need, and store the rest in the refrigerator for up to a week. After a few days, the dough will smell of fermented yeast, which will actually improve the flavor of the finished pitas. Bring the dough to room temperature before baking.
   
   This amount of dough makes approximately 16 pitas, if rolled out to a diameter of approximately 20-23 cm and a thickness of less than 0.6 cm. Of course, you can make them smaller. The size and shape are entirely up to you, but the following recipe describes these dimensions.
5. Place unglazed ceramic tiles, a baking stone, or 2 baking sheets on a rack in the bottom third of the oven, leaving at least 2.5 cm between them to allow air circulation.
   
   Preheat oven to 230°C.
   
   Divide the dough in half, then set one half aside and cover it while you work with the other half. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and flatten each one with the palm of your hand, lightly dusted with flour. Roll each piece of dough into a circle 20-23 cm in diameter. You can roll out all eight pieces at once before baking. Cover the pieces, but do not stack them on top of each other.
6. Bake 2 pitas at a time (or more if your oven allows) directly on the hotplates or baking sheets.
   
   Bake each pita for 3-4 minutes, until it puffs up like a balloon or begins to brown slightly, whichever comes first. If there are wrinkles or dry bits of dough in the pita, or for any number of other reasons, the pita may not puff up like a balloon. Don't worry, the taste will still be delicious. The more you bake pitas, the more you'll learn little tricks and mistakes, and your bread will turn out like a "ball" more and more often. But even after that, if your pita, like ours, doesn't puff up completely, you won't have to worry, as it won't affect the taste.
   
   When the pitas are done, remove them from the oven, place them on a wire rack for about 5 minutes to cool slightly, then wrap them in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the bread soft). Once the first half of the dough is rolled out and baked, repeat the process with the remaining dough or store it in the refrigerator for later use as described above. You can also divide the dough into smaller pieces (if desired) to make smaller pitas.