Sicilian pizza - Sfincione Palermitano

Sicily, and specifically Palermo, has its own personal version of pizza: the Sfincione Palermitano. Sfincione Palermitano is a thick pizza topped with strong flavors like anchovies, caciocavallo cheese, onions and tomato sauce. While most of the ingredients are available everywhere, the caciocavallo cheese may be harder to find and it can be substituted with provola, or as a last resort, butter cheese.

Ingredients for 4 as main, 8-10 as appetizer,

DOUGH
250g white flour
250g durum flour
7g dry yeast
35g olive oil
5g salt
300g water

TOPPING
2 big white onions
500g tomato passata
salt, pepper and oregano
40g anchovies (about 10 pieces)
200g provola/provolone (or alternatively butter cheese)
60g Parmigiano Reggiano
30g bread crumbles

*15inch/38cm backing tray

First thing is to prepare the pizza dough. We mix together white flour (for the texture) and durum flour (for the taste), always remember to sift the flour to remove impurities and break down the grains.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a larger bowl if you knead the dough only by hands, add the flour, make a hole in the middle with a spoon, add part of the water in the hole and the yeast. Mix with a spoon and wait a minute to let the yeast dissolve in the water and become active. Now add the olive oil, the rest of the water and the salt. Mix at low speed in a stand mixer (or by hands) until you get a smooth dough.

Now transfer the dough on a wooden board and knead by hands for five minutes. Now make a ball, put the dough back in the bowl, cover with plastic foil to avoid to become dry and let it rest for 1 hour, until it will double its volume.

After 1 hour, take a baking pan, oil it and add a sheet of baking paper. Add the raised dough, spread some oil on it and spread the dough evenly on the baking pan. Cover again with plastic foil and let it raise for another hour.

In the meantime cut the white onions and fry the for 10 minutes with abundant olive oil on a large pan. After 10 minutes add the passata and let it cook for another 10 minutes. At last add salt, pepper and oregano and put it aside.

Grate the parmigiano and cut the provolone in slices of about half a centimeter.

After one hour, you will notice that the dough has raised again on the baking pan.

Turn on the oven to 220 degrees and wait until it reaches the right temperature. In the meantime add the toppings on the dough: start with anchovies, evenly distributed, the provola and spread the tomato and onion sauce. Add 80% of the parmigiano and mix the remaining 20% with the bread crumbles. Lastly add the bread crumbles and now you are ready to put the Sfincione in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 220 degrees and then for another 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

The Sfincione Palermitano just out of the oven

Cut it into pieces and enjoy.

Buon appetito!