Andrea's No Fail Tortilla Pitas

Awhile ago Andrea at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl posted about these, and I could resist trying them. Paired with some greek-ish marinated chicken and a cucumber yogurt salad, they were amazing. I then tried them the next week in this recipe, and again, they were delicious. Jake loves them so much he's asked me to make a bunch and stash them in the freezer, ready to pop into his lunches to dip into soups or hummus.

If you are looking for a way to save some money on groceries, and don't mind whipping up a batch of you own flatbread, then this is perfect for you. The ingredients are few, and I even happened to have them all just sitting around in my cupboard. I used all purpose flour because I didn't have any bread flour on hand, although I'd love to try them with the bread flour as well and see if there's a difference.

You could put some spices or herbs in them as well, such as basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning.

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)

Put a baking stone or inverted (upside down!) baking sheet in the oven and pre-heat to 450 F.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or with an electric mixer until they come together and form a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes.

Pinch off into 8 pieces, and roll each into a ball. Allow to rest for 20 minutes covered with a clean tea towel.

Roll balls out into circles about 6-8 inches in diameter, about 1/8 inch thick. Like Andrea said, don't worry if you can't get it perfect! Place on the hot stone or cookie sheet and bake, watching carefully. Andrea baked hers for 3 minutes per side, I might just bake mine for two. It's hard to tell. Don't leave the stove! Just stand and watch them carefully. I flipped mine over and baked both sides until they were a nice golden brown.

Remove them to a cooling rack and top however you wish, or rip them apart right then and there and greedily snarf them down while they're still warm.

Makes eight.