Batbout: Moroccan Pita Recipe
I love when I find a new recipe that becomes an immediate favorite. That happened recently when I attempted my first pita type bread – the batbout, a Moroccan pita I made to go with the Chicken with Preserved Lemons I cooked in my tagine. When I was searching the recipe for the chicken I learned that most Moroccan recipes are served family style with bread to soak up the juices.
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Batbout – Moroccan Pita Recipe
Makes 20 – 24
4 cups white flour
2 cups semolina or whole wheat flour
2 TBS plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS yeast
2 cups warm water, divided
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Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar until it’s frothy – about 5 minutes.
Blend the flours, the rest of the sugar and the salt in a mixing bowl.
Add the yeast, the oil and the balance of the water. Mix to form a dough.
The dough should be soft but not sticky. If it is too sticky add a little bit of flour a tablespoon at a time.
Knead the dough either by hand or with a dough hook for about 10 minutes
Divide the dough and form into small balls and let them rest, covered for about 10 minutes.
Roll each ball into a circle about 1/8″ thick.
Set each round to rise on a clean, dry towel.
Cover all the rounds and let rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Lightly oil a cast iron skillet or griddle (or a non stick pan) and heat over medium until hot.
Cook the batbout, turning several times, until golden brown.
Browning will be uneven as they will puff up when they cook. (You can see a video of batbout cooking)
Transfer to a cooling rack.
Now, I will be honest – not all of my batbout puffed when they cooked. I don’t know exactly why but as I make these again I’m sure I’ll learn more about how these work. It didn’t seem to make a difference on how they worked as pitas though – if I cut one of the flatter one it would still separate for stuffing.
How Was the Pita Recipe?
They have a mild taste as pita do and I find I am enjoying them very much. I’m having one instead of a homemade bagel now that I have them. I had one stuffed with scrambled eggs for dinner last night. Then I made and easy shrimp recipe and the batbout were the base. They freeze beautifully and thaw in minutes. I’m sure I’ll be using this pita recipe regularly and will always have some in my freezer. I’m so happy I went on this little culinary trip to Morocco and found this wonderful bread. I suspect I’ll be using my tagine more frequently as well.
