GRILLED RYE PITTA POCKET SANDWICH

Pitta pocket sandwiches are very welcome in my home. They are so easy to put together, provided you have collected/ prepared all the necessary ingredients in advance.

Made of Rye flour these are healthier than the usual white flour version.
If making the bread at home you can proof the dough for as long as 12 hours before rolling into the circular discs. This will give a softer, fluffier bread.
Pitta bread sandwiches are nutritious as they have salad greens and vegetables, protein in the form of hummus, falafal and tzatziki, carbohydrates in the rye bread, and are low in fat content as the breads contains almost negligible amount of oil. Being colourful they contain a wide range of phyto-nutrients. The Chickpeas are an absolute must in a healthy diet. I spoke about their benefits in my previous post Falafal.

A complete meal in itself as they contain all the 5 food groups. These sandwiches do very well as a
one-dish-meal.

grilled rye pitta bread pocket sandwich



You can as easily eat them on the streets of Paris in the early morning market, held twice a week, as you can savour them in most large cities of the world or in the warm kitchen of your own home or of course in the place of origin.

It made me quite sad when I saw the perfectly puffed up pitta bread torn apart and stuffed with the salad, hummus, tzatziki and broken up falafal and then rolled into a wrap and grilled. The taste was outstanding, though I prefer the exotic looks of the bread when it is stuffed like a pocket and then grilled. It gives a crisp bread on the outside and soft bread on the inside.

Make the bread small sized and serve in a cocktail party like I do or make them  larger and serve as a main meal.
It is extremely filling, incredibly tasty but you have never ever had enough. That is the reason I make them small in size so that the mind reads the number of sandwiches eaten and just stops me from taking more. This is definitely the one place my tongue and brain have a massive fight. My stomach has absolutely no say in the matter.

The recipes for the ingredients are available when you click links on the ingredient list.
Ingredients:
.Rye pitta breads.............1 recipe(makes 16 discs, and 32 pitta pockets)
.Limy minty hummus........1 recipe
.My protest salad.............1 recipe
.Falafal............................1 recipe(makes 32)
.Tzatziki...........................1 recipe
.Red chili flakes...............to taste

Method:
.Place one pitta bread disc on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut through the centre into two equal
 halves.
.Open out the pockets gently.
.Apply hummus on the insides of the pitta pocket.
.Stuff the salad.
.Stuff in one falafal disc. These can be lightly broken with hand by pressing between the thumb and
 forefinger if desired.
.Top with the Tzatziki.
.Grill in a table top grill or eat as is.

OR
.Cut the pittas into halves and grill them in a table top grill for 2 minutes or until crisp on the outside.
.Gently pry them open and apply the the hummus on both sides inside  the piita pocket.
.Fill the cavity with the salad and stuff in the falafal.
.Top with Tzatziki and sprinkle some red chili flakes to add the kick to the sandwich.
.Serve hot.



grilled rye pitta pocket sandwich

 Note:
.Add a little grated radish to the tzatziki for that extra punch and flavour.
.You can also substitute the red chilli flakes with Harissa which is a Moroccon hot chili paste made of dry red chili, garlic, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds and olive oil. It really adds the zing.