Sfinciune Recipes

FABRIZIA LANZA'S SICILIAN PIZZA (SFINCIONE)

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, put 1 cup lukewarm water and yeast. Add semolina and stir to make a thin paste. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, until bubbly.
• Add flour, salt and olive oil, and mix until dough becomes a rough mass. Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Dust with flour as needed, but don't add much: This is meant to be a soft dough. Put kneaded dough in a resealable plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably longer, up to 24 hours.
• Make the sauce: Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, and raise heat to high. Simmer briskly until all the water has evaporated and onions are soft. Add tomato purée and bring to a simmer, then turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper, and add red pepper to taste. Allow mixture to cool, then stir in bread crumbs, grated cheese and anchovies. Let mixture rest for 5 minutes, then taste and adjust seasoning.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Remove dough from refrigerator and press down to deflate. Using a rolling pin, flatten dough to a small rectangle.
• Transfer dough to oiled baking sheet, and, using the palms of your hands, stretch dough to the edges. If dough is rebellious and resists, let it rest for a few minutes, then stretch again. (It may take 2 or 3 attempts.) Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel, and set in a warm place to rise. After 30 minutes or so, dough should have doubled in thickness.
• Spoon the topping evenly over the dough, then use a spatula or the back of the spoon to spread the topping smoothly over entire surface, leaving a half-inch border. Drizzle surface with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes on the oven's middle shelf, until nicely browned. Check the underside to make sure it is crisp, and bake for a few more minutes if necessary. (Tent top with foil if top has browned too quickly.)
• Remove from pan to a cutting board. Sprinkle with a little salt and a large pinch of oregano. Cut into 8 square slices. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SICILIAN CHRISTMAS PIZZA (SFINCIONE)

Steps:

• Pour warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Sprinkle yeast on top and let bloom. Add salt, sugar, olive oil, and flour. Knead, scraping down sides as necessary, until dough is very elastic and sticky, 6 to 7 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
• Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, sweeten, and turn translucent, 6 or 7 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, black pepper, tomato paste, oregano, and anchovies; mix until anchovies dissolve. Add marinara sauce, rinse out the container with water, and add the water. Stir and let simmer on medium-low heat until flavors come together, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Combine bread crumbs and Pecorino Romano cheese in a bowl; toss together with a fork. Add the reserved anchovy oil and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix until bread crumbs are well moistened.
• Generously coat a rimmed 13x18-inch sheet pan with up to 3 tablespoons olive oil. Oil your hands and turn dough out onto pan. Pull, stretch, and press it to the sides of the pan, pausing to let dough rest whenever it shrinks back too quickly.
• Spoon sauce over the dough and spread up to about 1/2 inch from the edges. Add mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly on top; do not press down. Drizzle remaining olive oil on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pizza is well browned is bottom is cooked, about 35 minutes. Bake for as as long as you can without the crumbs on top burning so that the crust cooks as much as possible.
• Slide pizza onto a cooling rack to prevent the bottom from getting soggy. Transfer to a cutting board once cooled.

SFINCIUNE

Steps:

• In a measuring cup stir together water and yeast until yeast is dissolved. In a large bowl whisk together 3 cups flour, Pecorino Romano, salt, and pepper and add yeast mixture and oil, stirring until a soft dough forms. On a lightly floured surface knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding additional flour if dough is sticky.
• Oil a large bowl (preferably with olive oil) and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Chop canned tomatoes, reserving juice. If using fresh tomatoes, peel, seed, and dice. Halve onion and thinly slice. In a medium saucepan cook onion in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, including juice, and oregano and simmer 10 minutes, or until thickened. While mixture is simmering, drain and chop anchovies. Stir anchovies into tomato mixture and cool to room temperature. (Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.)
• Cut bread into 1-inch pieces and in a food processor pulse until it breaks up into coarse crumbs. In a small skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and fry 1/2 cup bread crumbs (reserving any remaining crumbs for another use), stirring occasionally, until golden.
• Oil a 12-inch pizza pan (preferably with olive oil). Transfer dough to pan and stretch and pat it out evenly to fit pan. Cover dough with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• With your fingertips make indentations, about 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart, all over dough. Top dough with half of sauce, spreading with back of a spoon to within 1/2 inch of edge. Bake sfinciune in middle of oven 25 minutes.
• While sfinciune is baking, cut cheese into 1/2-inch cubes. Spread remaining sauce over sfinciune and top with cheese. Sprinkle sfinciune with bread crumbs and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Bake sfinciune 5 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and edge is golden brown. (Sfinciune may be made 1 day ahead and cooled on a rack before chilling, wrapped in plastic wrap. To reheat, preheat baking sheet in a 375°F oven and bake sfinciune on hot baking sheet until heated through, about 15 minutes.
• Cut sfinciune into wedges and serve hot.

SICILIAN PIZZA (SFINCIONE)

Steps:

• First, make the dough. Mix the yeast and sugar with the warm water. Place the flour and salt in a mixer with a dough hook, or in a bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid and oil. Mix by hand for 10 mins or 5 mins in the mixer, until dough is silky. Tip into a well-oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and place somewhere warm for about 40 mins or until doubled in size.
• Tip the dough onto a work surface and knead for 2 mins, knocking out any air pockets. The dough should be soft but not too elastic.
• Dust a 25 x 16cm baking tray with a little flour and place the dough in the centre. Using the palms of your hands and tips of your fingers, push the dough to the edges of the tray. Leave it for 30 mins to rise. While the dough is rising, fry the sausage in a dry pan until crumbly.
• Heat oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Spread the tomato sauce over the base, followed by the sausage, ricotta, provolone and dried breadcrumbs. Finally, drizzle with olive oil. Put in the oven for 5 mins, then turn down the heat and cook at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 20-25 mins, until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly, then cut into 6 chunks and serve.