Pizza a la Palermitana (Sicilian Pizza)

The Sicilians call this 'sfincione'. It differs from the pizza delivered in familiar flat boxes. This pizza dough is allowed to rise a little before being put in the oven, and has ingredients pressed into it to be discovered within, not on top of the dough. If you love pizza, invest in a pizza stone and a peel- they are inexpensive and will reward you with use.

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cups onion, roughly chopped
• 1 prepared bread dough
• 6 anchovy fillets, cut in small pieces
• 1/3 pound mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 15 black olives, pitted and halved
• 1 1/2 cups light tomato sauce
• 1 cup toasted bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

METHOD

Heat oil in skillet. Add onion and sauté until golden over medium heat.

Oil a cookie sheet or large pizza pan. Spread dough in an even layer in the pan, pushing gently into shape.

Push pieces of anchovy, mozzarella and olive as deep into dough as they will go.

Spread onions in one even layer over dough. Pour tomato sauce over onions. Top with layer of bread crumbs. Sprinkle with oregano.

Allow pizza to sit, covered, for two hours. It will rise to be breadier than the average pizza.

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes on the middle rack of oven. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon olive oil over pizza before serving.

Yield: One large pizza

recipe from www.inmamaskitchen.com

Contributor: Al Viola

back to super bowl recipes   read the history of pizza click here   article on Sicilian cooking    more sicilian recipes

Tip:  Bread crumbs are a hallmark of Sicilian cooking. For centuries Sicily endured foreign domination. Bread was indeed the staff of life. Perhaps as a result of poverty, bread is held sacred and never wasted.

The tools: The pizza stone approximates the radiant heat of the brick-lined ovens in professional bakeries.  It is preheated so that the pizza is immediately cooking without rising.  The peel is that long-handled spatula (a very large one!) that professionals use to slide the unbaked dough onto the preheated pizza stone.  Both a pizza peel and the stone are excellent tools.

 

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