Leek pie

Method

1. Mix the flour and salt, work in the warm water and knead for ten minutes, until the dough is smooth and slack. Divide it into six balls, oil them, cover them and leave them for half an hour. Rested dough stretches; unrested dough tears.
2. Boil the rice in salted water until barely tender, drain it and spread it out to cool.
3. Slice the leeks finely, whites and pale greens together, and cook them in half the oil over a moderate heat for fifteen minutes, until they collapse and begin to catch. Take them further than looks necessary — leek that is still wet steams the pastry from the inside.
4. Stir the rice, paprika, chilli and plenty of black pepper into the leeks and leave the filling to cool completely.
5. Roll and then stretch each ball of dough on an oiled surface until you can read through it. Brush it with oil, spread a sixth of the filling along one edge and roll it into a loose rope.
6. Coil the first rope in the centre of an oiled round tin and wind the rest around it, leaving a little slack between the coils so they have room to rise.
7. Mix the remaining oil with the sparkling water, brush it over the top, scatter on the sesame seeds and leave the pita to stand for twenty minutes.
8. Bake at 200°C for fifteen minutes, then lower the oven to 180°C and bake for another thirty, until the coils are brown and dry.
9. Cover the tin with a cloth for ten minutes before cutting; it softens the crust just enough to serve.