So a few weeks ago I was doing my weekly scan of recipes from a few of my favorite cookbooks for meals for that week. I came across a tried and true hummus recipe from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook (How Easy Is That?) which I instantly decided I needed to make. I thought some fresh veggies and hummus would more than make up for all the pretzel and french onion dip I'd been, shall I say "vegging out on." (Can I call that a pun?) I also flipped through my W-S Baking Book and found the pita bread recipe I'd been wanting to try, which looked easy enough and didn't require me to buy any new ingredients for it! (I love when that happens...) All I needed was some Fage and you could call me Athena! (Like I said, one cute,but determined son who doesn't nap makes for one stable otherwise, but on the verge of a nervous breakdown right now mommy.)
Anywho below are the recipes. Nothing could be easier here! Or healthier! The hummus is packed with protein and as far as the pita bread goes, you need carbs to sustain energy! I just ate the hummus with vegetables since I was feeling guilty about my binge on pretzels and dip, but be adventurous with your dippers! I ate the pita bread plain since I feel that I can't really appreciate the flavor that only comes with homemade bread if I slather it with spreads, but eat it how you like it! I thought about making some gyros with it, but that was just too ambitious a task for me at the time. The pita bread makes 10 so if you feel like you won't eat it up within a few days, just pop the rest in a ziploc and into the freezer they go! Apolafsete! (That's "Enjoy!" in Greek!)
Hummus
Makes 2 cups (I doubled the recipe since I love it so much!)
2 C canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1/3 C tahini or sesame paste
4 cloves minced garlic
6 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 tsp kosher salt
Place the chickpeas, 2 Tbsp of the reserved liquid, the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt in the bowl of a food processor (or a blender) fitted with the steel blade and process until coarsely pureed. The hummus should be moist and thick; add more lemon juice or reserved chickpea liquid to thin, if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for several hours for the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings.
This is a basic hummus recipe, but you could add roasted red peppers, or any other array of ingredients to make it unique!
All the ingredients pre processer
Press of a button and your done!
Pita Bread
Makes 10- 6 inch flatbreads
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1 1/2 C warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2-4 C all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over 1/2 C of the water. Stir gently to dissolve and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 10 minutes.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the remaining water, the oil, salt, and 1 C of the flour. Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Stir in the yeast mixture. Beat in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed, adding flour 1 Tbsp at a time if the dough sticks, until stiff and sticky, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled deep bowl and turn once to coat it with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1-1 1/2 hours.
Place a baking stone on the bottom oven rack and preheat to 450 degrees F. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it in half. Cover half with plastic wrap. Divide the remaining half into 5 equal pieces and form each piece into a ball. Let rest for 10 minutes whilde dividing the other dough half. Roll out the balls into rounds about 6 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not roll out easily, let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Drape each round over a flour-dusted rolling pin and transfer to a floured kitchen towel.* Cover with another towel and let rest until puffy, about 15 minutes.
* I was confused by this step, as I only have one rolling pin. How am I supposed to put 10 pitas on one rolling pin?! If you are so blessed to have multiple rolling pins, kudos, and this step should be no problem. I ended up stacking my pitas on top of each other which was really dumb of me since it didn't allow my pitas to get puffy, plus they stuck together, but in the end I thought they still turned out great!
Preheat a baking sheet in the oven for 6 minutes. Quickly brush the sheet with oil. Transfer 3 or 4 dough rounds to the hot sheet and place it on the baking stone. Do not open the oven door for 3 minutes. Bake until puffed and light brown, 6-7 minutes. Stack the pitas on a plate and cover with a kitchen towel. Bake the remaining pitas, then serve warm.
Puffy pitas!
My Leaning Tower of Pitas! (oh wait, that's Italy...)
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