Pita Bread and Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
Pita Bread
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for coating and cooking
2 ½ cups flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
Tzatziki Sauce
1 lemon zested
½ cup grated cucumber, squeezed dry
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Steps
For the pita bread
In a large mixing bowl, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 ¼ teaspoons of yeast
Pour in 1 cup of warm water
Stir to dissolve the sugar and yeast in the water
Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Start by adding 1 cup of flour to the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated
Add a second cup of flour to the mixture and stir again to combine. You will start to see a loose dough form
Add the last half cup of flour to the dough and mix to incorporate until a shaggy dough forms
Switch to kneading the dough by hand to incorporate all the loose flour
Continue kneading until the dough forms a smooth ball - as you knead, the dough will get sticky
Sprinkle the dough with a fine covering of flour and knead the dough again until smooth
Coat a separate mixing bowl all over with some olive oil
Transfer the kneaded dough into the greased bowl and rub some oil all over the dough itself
Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour
After an hour, remove the kitchen towel from the bowl of risen dough - the dough should have doubled in size
Punch down on the dough to deflate the air
Spread some flour out on the counter and transfer the risen and punched down dough to the flour
Move and shape the dough into an even log and cut into 8 even sections
Roll each section of cut dough into a round ball
Then cover the dough balls with a damp kitchen towel to rest for 15 minutes
Work one at a time to press down and flatten each ball of dough with your fingers into a pita, flipping the dough often to prevent it from sticking, until the dough is a quarter of an inch thick
Place the flattened dough on a separate tray to the side
Add some olive oil to a large saute pan and turn the stove on medium high heat
Place a pita into the heated pan and let it cook on one side for 30 seconds to a minute
Then flip the pita over to cook the other side
Cook and flip the pitas until they turn a nice golden brown on both sides and then remove the pitas and set aside on a separate plate
Continue cooking the remaining pita breads
For the tzatziki sauce
Cut a cucumber into quarters and carefully cut the inner seeds away from the rest of the cucumber
Use the large holes of a box grater to grate the cucumber so you have at least 1 cups worth of grated cucumber
Transfer the grated cucumber to a small paper towel lined bowl
Pick up on the edges of the paper towel and press to squeeze the excess liquid out from the grated cucumber
In a small bowl, add 1 cup of Greek yogurt, ½ cup of the grated and squeezed cucumber, 1 tablespoons of fresh chopped dill, all the lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, a ½ teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, plenty of black pepper to taste, and 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
Stir all the ingredients together to combine
Dip your warm, homemade pita bread in your fresh tzatziki sauce to enjoy