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Back to work recipe: wholemeal pitta breads for your sandwiches (plus red pepper hummus and candied walnuts)

January 5, 2015 6 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

I have a big drawer where I keep flour and sugar. As an ingredients ‘collector’, I possess virtually every type of sugar: from cubes through to granulated, caster and powdered, from Demerara, soft brown, golden, to pure white or novelty colours, from cane or beet to palm. Sugar keeps forever as long as it is kept dry.
I also have every type of flour; coconut, buckwheat, rye, spelt, waterchestnut, potato, tapioca, lotus root, corn, maize, wheat in all its forms: brown, self-raising, strong, cake flour, plain, 00 Italian for pasta. Flour should be used within date ideally; in the past one had to look out for weevils but that is no longer a problem, perhaps the atmosphere of my flat is drier.
I like to keep a tidy and thrifty pantry, so over the holiday period, I decided to use up the odds and sods, ends of bags. I’d run out of white flour and was left with mostly wholewheat, buckwheat, spelt and self-raising white.
Buckwheat flour can be used to make Breton style pancakes or galettes, or blinis (I have a good recipe in my book Supper Club). I used the spelt to make a 3 minute loaf, replacing the sesame seeds with pumpkin seeds. This recipe turned out ‘ok’ but not great; a usable but not terribly tasty loaf. The self-raising flour went into a chocolate Victoria Sponge (add 35g of cocoa powder to this recipe) which had the benefit of using up the rest of the buche de noel buttercream icing.
Wholewheat though…I’m not really a fan. I’m just not that much of a hippy. But then I remembered that there is one food that I actually prefer as a wholewheat version: pitta breads. So I made these. I stuffed them with a red pepper hummus, candied walnuts, fresh coriander and avocado slices. Just one made a substantial lunch. Make a double batch of these pittas, use some for lunch and store the rest in the freezer. It is quick to reheat them until puffy and warm.

Wholemeal pitta bread recipe

Makes 10 pittas

14g fast action yeast
1tsp of honey
400ml warm water
450g wholemeal flour
2tbsp olive oil
1tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 250ºC.
In a jug mix the yeast, honey and water (lukewarm only otherwise it will kill the yeast). Leave for five minutes until it froths up.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, pour the flour, olive oil and salt. Then, either stirring or with a dough hook, mix in the yeast mixture until fully incorporated into a bread dough. If doing by hand, knead for ten minutes, or leave for 5 to 10 minutes in the stand mixer on a low speed. Then cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise for an hour.
Put a flat baking tray into the oven to heat up.
You will find that wholewheat is easier to work with the white flour. Divide the dough into 10 balls and with a rolling pin, roll them out into flat thin ovals, about 1/4 inch/1 cm thick. I didn’t even need flour to roll them out.
Then place two or three oval pittas (or as many as you can comfortably fit in without them touching each other) onto the hot baking tray. Bake for around four minutes until the pitta bread has puffed up.
Do this in batches until they are all cooked.
Slit those you want to use straight away along one side. Wait for the others to cool then put them in a plastic bag and place in the freezer for later use.

Red pepper hummus recipe

Makes a bowl
It is easiest if you have a food processor or Vitamix for this recipe.

2 red peppers
400g can of chickpeas, drained
50ml olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1tsp of ground cumin
1/2tsp of ground coriander
1/2tsp of sweet smoked paprika
1tbsp of good sea salt
Juice of half a lemon
A handful of fresh coriander

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and once up to temperature, place the red peppers whole on a baking tray in the oven on the top shelf. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until the skin is slightly blackened. Then remove from the oven and cover with a bowl or place in a plastic bag. Leave to cool enough so that they can be handled, then strip off the shiny skin, remove the seeds and stem. Place the peppers in the food processor.
Place the chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika and salt in the food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice and process. Taste for salt levels. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Transfer to a bowl to use as a dip or, if using for sandwiches, put it in an air-tight container, it will last three or four days at least in the fridge.

Candied walnuts recipe

Makes a handful
You will need a silpat, or sheet of parchment paper to make this recipe.

50g sugar
1tbsp of coconut oil
50g walnuts
A pinch of sea salt

Prepare your Silpat/parchment paper on a flat surface. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan on a medium heat, heat up the sugar until it starts to melt, then add the coconut oil, shaking the pan. Add the walnuts after a couple of minutes and a pinch of sea salt. Shake the pan until the walnuts are coated with the sugar.
Pour the nuts/sugar onto the Silpat/parchment sheet, separating the nuts with a silicon spatula so that they are spread out in a single layer. Allow to cool. Break them up if they have stuck together.
These can be kept in an air-tight container.

Assembly of your pitta bread sandwich

Avocado slices
Red pepper hummus
Candied walnuts
Fresh coriander
Alfalfa sprouts (optional)
A slick of vegan mayonnaise (optional)
Some chilli sauce (optional)
Slices of cherry tomato (optional)

Heat up the pitta bread again in the oven and once puffed up again (this takes a couple of minutes so don’t walk away), slit open the pitta bread and spread a thick layer of red pepper hummus inside. A slick of vegan mayonnaise, some chilli sauce and sliced cherry tomatoes wouldn’t go amiss. Add two or three wedges of ripe avocado, three or four candied walnuts and a few sprigs of fresh coriander.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Magnolia Verandah

    January 6, 2015 at 5:01 am

    Yumo these sound great!
    Sent your latest book to my sister for Christmas in the UK (via Amazon) she loves it.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      January 6, 2015 at 12:50 pm

      Thank you Magnolia! xx

      Reply
  2. Urvashi

    January 11, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Love the idea of candied walnuts in a sandwich (well pitta but you know what I mean). I think I'd much these all day

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      January 12, 2015 at 1:17 pm

      I nicked this idea from a place I ate at in Portland last summer. Delicious.

      Reply
  3. Anonymous

    January 24, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Hi just making it now. The dough is quite wet with that proportion of water to flour. Looking at a bread recipe on the yeast packpack its 500 g flour to 300ml water.
    Francoiseauvray@hotmail.com

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      January 24, 2015 at 6:30 pm

      Hi Francoise,
      It is quite wet but once risen it works out. Are you definitely using wholmeal flour? Because with white flour I use alot less water.
      I will test it again however. Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Instagram post 2197363265541840970_28574231 On this wet and windy day of a December general election I think back to my trip to northern Italy in October. Piedmont is renowned for the religious architecture. Do visit Sacro Monte di Varallo, perhaps at Halloween, as it is one of the spookiest places I’ve ever visited. On a misty hillside, hovering gloomily above the small town of Varallo Sesia, (painted in 18th century Farrow and Ball type colours as ordered by the local council), there are 45 chapels. It’s kind of a mini-pilgrimage (and located on the Camino San Carlo which joins up with the Camino de Santiago), with pathways and gardens winding through small separate buildings. Each one has a screen through which you can peer at wooden or plaster models of religious scenes or animals. You could spend a whole day just wandering around enjoying the gothic atmosphere, the Italianate buildings and the nature. The cable car to ascend is just opposite a 15th century temple Santa Maria Delle Grazie which has a painted altar screen taking up the whole breadth of the church dividing the public space from an area where nuns worship. I saw a couple of ancient nuns bustling around in the wax-scented candlelit murk. The wooden screen, called a tramezzo, is painted by renaissance artist Gaudenzio Ferrari, influenced by Da Vinci.  I will be hosting a #new years eve supperclub using inspiration I got from piedmont - #hazelnut #risotto and #tiramisu  Book here at this link.  http://www.edibleexperiences.com/p/69/The-Underground-Restaurant/5088672055/New-Years-Eve-2019-supper-club. ^. #travel #italy #piedmont #northernitaly🇮🇹 #foodietraveller #rain #mist #religiousarchitecture #halloween #spooky #supperclub
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Instagram post 2193008073182743287_28574231 Next supperclub is New Year’s Eve: http://www.edibleexperiences.com/p/69/The-Underground-Restaurant/5088672055/New-Years-Eve-2019-supper-club tickets £65 BYO champagne. It will have two themes: Piedmont and Galicia. 
It’s time. *
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#travel #baking #msmarmitelover #santiagodecompostela #caminoway #walking #hiking #dessert #spanishrecipes #spanishdessert #galicianrecipes #glutenfree @caminoways
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Instagram post 2172857478425645569_28574231 The Camino to Santiago. While November isn’t the most popular month, and there is certainly rain, the landscape, the nature and colours of the countryside are so vibrant it’s like being on an acid trip. Nature at its most vivid: acorns with their fairy cups, bronze oak leaves and rusty ferns, mushrooms frilly with gills, apples 🍎 on the bough tumbling into sky blue rivulets, giant pumpkins in a patch, moss covered walls, dolmens and menhirs, rooves covered with slate like fish scales, lichen and donkeys, horses, spiney umbrellas like an opened coquille de St Jacques, cows called Luna. I did 14 km today my first day and that was enough. I fell asleep in front of the fire at the #albergue this is a #presstrip with @caminoways #galicia #greedypilgrim #caminodesantiago #msmarmitelover @advantagesofage @imogen_rodgers_1 #autumn #spain #walking #hiking #travel #contemplation #pushingyourself
Instagram post 2169866030516446893_28574231 Persimon Pani puri recipe up on the blog Msmarmitelover.com a street food which includes a flavour spectrum- sour, sweet, salty, hot, spicy, refreshing, crunchy, wet and dry, fruity and carby. Making the Puri from scratch took a couple of goes to get right but actually isn’t hard. #supperclub #msmarmitelover #msmarmite #spanishpersimon #vegetarian #vegan #recipe #chaat #streetfood #indiansnacks #canape #diwali
Instagram post 2169277948175951209_28574231 Overlooking the river at #vallaro in piedmont. Nearby was #sacroMonte, a hilltop religious monument with 45 chapels, each containing strange plaster statues of animals and saints, 800 of them.
Instagram post 2167511482116167199_28574231 Persimon fruit leather (the easiest EVER as it has so much pectin- just purée it, add sweetness spread on a silpat and in cool oven for a few hours), rolled into a pinwheel with bergamot zest and mint and goats cheese, a delicious canapé. This was served at last nights #persimon #supperclub for #Halloween on behalf of @spanishpersimon . Next week I’m going to Valencia to visit the farm.  #msmarmitelover #msmarmite #singleingredientmenus #fruit #vegetarian #canapé #christmascanapes #canapeideas
Instagram post 2166825702523830758_28574231 I’ve been working with persimon fruit for the last 3 weeks, pushing the envelope with what we can do with persimons other than just eat them like apples. And guess what? I still like them, I’m not bored. They are a wonderful autumn winter seasonal fruit. They are also really good for you. #VitC #fibre #5aday, #potassium #iron #calcium #betacarotene #vitA #7aday #manganese #B6 #supperclub #halloween #fruit
Instagram post 2166106717029345626_28574231 The creamy interior of a baked Camembert offset by persimons from Spain. This is the cheese course from my Halloween supperclub for @spanishpersimon this Thursday. #supperclub #persimmon #persimon #sharonfruit #kaki #cheese #camembert #bakedcheese #halloween #spanishfruit #igfood #autumnvibes🍁
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