What to do with all that pita?

Normally I freeze it, since that works extremely well. However there is much to be said for letting it stale. As I’ve often discussed, stale bread was the norm through most of human bread making history, and an entire family of recipes have evolved in the Arab world to make full use of it. Fattoush is just the beginning (for an interesting recipe for that see here…it obviously makes a lot, and I have no idea what 2 1/5 pounds adds up to, but the good folks at the Lebanese tourist bureau need a break). Exotic stale pita casseroles can be found from Morocco all the way into Egypt and beyond. For more on those I recommend this book by Clifford Wright, my favorite author of Middle Eastern culinary history.

Myself, I tend to do an Italian sorta thing, at least this time of year with so many great tomatoes still around. I tear up a stale pita, put it in a bowl and scatter big chunks of tomato over the top. A few torn basil leaves, maybe a few small pieces of fresh mozzarella, and lastly a couple spoonfuls of a simple vinaigrette. That there’s eatin’.