Musings by Mia – Staycations for Celiacs – Home-Made Pita Bread

Introducing Staycations for Celiacs

In order to celebrate the summer and explore the world of food from the comfort of your own home, I am starting a ‘staycation’ series! My partner, a wonderful cook/baker, has been busy developing some tasty gluten free recipes that I am eager to share. For the series, we will be sharing a delicious recipe and a suggestion as to how to make a ‘staycation’ meal out of it!

Our first ‘staycation’ meal is a delicious gluten free Greek-inspired meal. Below is a recipe for a gluten-free pita bread that completely wowed me with its resemblance to the gluten-containing version I so missed! To make it a true ‘staycation’ meal we made a Greek salad, some grilled chicken kebabs, and tzatziki (yogurt, olive oil, shredded and drained cucumber, mint and/or dill, and lemon juice). If you’re making this for many people, then roasted potatoes or rice as a side would also work nicely to bulk up the meal. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Pita Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Cups (500g) gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 baking flour, but it should work using any flour blend as long as it contains xanthan gum)
• 1 ¼ Cup (300g) water
• ¼ Cup (60g) plain yogurt
• 2 TBSP (30g) olive oil
• ¼ TSP instant yeast
• 1 ½ TSP salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the wet ingredients (water, yogurt, olive oil) and the yeast together and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the wet ingredient mixture to the flour and salt and mix well to combine. The dough should be moist but come together well and be able to hold its shape. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours to proof (allow yeast to get to work).
3. After proofing for 3-4 hours, separate the dough into 5 balls and let them sit covered on a plate or baking tray for 2 hours.
4. After siting for 2 hours, preheat a large pan on medium to medium high heat and add a tsp. of oil to it.
5. This dough is going to be slightly sticky, so take about a tsp. of flour and dust it on a piece of parchment paper. Take a dough ball and place it on the parchment, flatten the ball with floured fingers working from the center of the ball to the outside. Occasionally shake the parchment paper to ensure that it is not sticking (firmly hold the edges of the parchment and shake it back and forth). The dough should be a good-sized circle and around ¼ of an inch thick. ^*
6. Now for the hardest part of the whole process, take the parchment and slide the flattened dough into the preheated pan. It is generally easiest to try to do this in one confident motion, but if it doesn’t work don’t panic. If you end up with a pita that ripped or folded over itself when you put it in the pan, the best thing to do is take the pan off the heat and either using your hands or an oiled spatula reform the pita in the pan doing your best to get it to a relatively even thickness. It may not be the prettiest, but it will still taste good!
7. Cook it on each side for about 3-4 minutes – you are looking for a golden crust on both sides and for it to be relatively pliable and moist.
8. Enjoy! I tend to top it with olive oil and spices while warm (such as oregano, paprika, etc.)

• ^* I have tried using a rolling pin, but I found that the dough had more of a problem sticking and it got rid of any pockets of air that are present from the proofing.

About Mia

• “Musings by Mia is meant to be a collection of topics that I wish had been more discussed when I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease as a teen. I will explore topics from the perspective of a young adult with Celiac Disease and share my personal experiences in these articles. As these are my own experiences, they are by no means meant to be a ‘how-to’ guide, but instead an informative glimpse into the situations a typical young adult with Celiac Disease might face.”

• If you have questions or comments,  or if you have topic suggestions, Mia would be happy to hear from you. Scroll down to the comment field below or email ellen@theceliacscene.com with your thoughts.