Bean and pumpkin crème with homemade pita

A beautiful combination – homemade pita with pumpkin bean crème. Jalapenos add spiciness, but you can substitute chilli or omit the heat, if you’re not a fan. I like to serve it plain, but you can also stuff the pita. A great filling is a combo of lettuce, fennel, avocado, basil, and dill.

Ingredients

pita:
250 ml water
1 tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp dry yeast 
300‒330 g finely-ground spelt flour + some for your work surface
pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp grape seed oil

pumpkin:
230 g pumpkin, peeled, cubed
3 tbsp olive oil for baking
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only
pinch of chilli flakes

crème:
240 g canned wax beans
40 g hazelnuts
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp mild extra virgin olive oil
some liquid from the beans (for creaminess)

crème for serving:
canned jalapenos, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
a little extra virginolive oil

Prepare

Pour water in a bowl, add sugar, yeast, and 200 g flour, and mix. Let sit for 15 minutes so the yeast begins to bubble. Add remaining flour bit-by-bit, salt, and oil and knead until you get elastic dough. If using a mixer with a dough hook, mix for 5‒6 minutes on low speed. By hand – 10 minutes. Add more flour, if needed. Grease a bowl and put kneaded dough in the bowl, cover tightly with cling film, and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.

Remove dough from the bowl, divide into 6 pieces, and form balls from each piece of dough. Sprinkle flour on your work surface, place the dough on top, cover with a damp tea towel, and let rise 15 minutes. Sprinkle more flour on your work surface and roll each ball out about 5 mm thick. Place the pitas next to each other on a floured surface, cover with a damp tea towel, and let rise 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 250° for 15 minutes. Place an overturned baking sheet, or rock if you have one, on the bottom of the oven. Place pitas on the sheet or rock – as many as will fit and quickly shut the oven door. Bake until the bread has puffed up and are lightly browned around the edges. Remove and place on a board to cool. Repeat with remaining pitas.

While the pita rises, prepare the crème. Preheat oven to 200°. Place the pumpkin and other ingredients on a baking pan, mix, and bake until ready. Remove and cool. When cooled, process in a blender with the other crème ingredients. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle jalapenos, Tellicherry, and oil on top. Serve with pita and your choice of vegetables. You can also fill the pita with the crème and vegetables.

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s