Ciao, ragazzi. Today, we are continuing Annalena's working through "what she learned in Sicily" with what is called sfinciuni, or sfincione, depending on who you ask. If you look at the picture above, and you begin thinking "that looks like Sicilian pizza," well, you are close. Indeed, the evidence points to this being the jumping off point, for what we know of as Sicilian pizza. Trust Annalena, ragazzi, this one is SO MUCH BETTER. And easier.
Now, Annalena knows that there are those of you out there, who have tried to make "Sicilian pizza" and have failed. Can she see a show of hands? Hers is up... Yup, And we all have various reasons for the fail. Annalena, in researching this recipe, now knows why. And she has a solution: make sfinciuni.
Annalena found this wonderful stuff all over Sicily, although those who know say that it originated in Western Sicily. For those of you who are thinking "WESTERN Sicily? Oh, PLEASE," Annalena begs that you check a map. Sicily is a BIG place. As she received her comeuppance once about Mexico, she is urging you to think a bit globally here: there IS a Western Sicily, there IS an Eastern Sicily, and while there are similarities - many of them - do not equate the two. The reason for making this distinction, is that while recipes for sfinciuni dough are similar, the toppings change. What you have, in this one, is a typically Western style topping, except that Annalena left out the anchovies. You see the ingredients for the topping below, and they're here, because you want to make your topping first:
Traditionally, there are anchovies in the topping. Annalena and the Guyman are not big anchovy fans, and as this was Annalena's first, she wasn't going to risk it. Instead, she doubled up on salt preserved capers, which you can see in the back, soaking to get their salt off. You also see tomato paste, because the sauce Annalena had was not very thick, and her estratto had, well, fermented. You will also see olives - not traditional, but hey... These are the last of some spicy olives she had. She pitted them, and chopped them. You also see bread crumbs - that seems to be standard for sfinciuni recipes, and you also see grated pecorino cheese.
We are going to take a digression here, ragazzi, about pecorino cheese. You are probably familar with "pecorino romano." Mind you, that is only ONE of the varieties of pecorino, which simply means "little sheep." When she went shopping today, Annalena found 13 varieties of pecorino at her Italian market: pecorino with saffron, hot pepper, fennel seeds, young pecorino, aged pecorino, etc. Much of Italy is mountainous, and while sheep and goats can do quite well in mountainous terrain, cows do not. That is why, when you find a beef recipe, ragazzi, it is almost certainly from Tuscany, where there is more even flat land than anywhere else. So, when you are shopping, here is a way to test your cheese monger. Ask for pecorino. JUST pecorino. If s/he asks "what kind of pecorino?" stay with that shop. If the shopkeeper asks "what are you going to use it for?" bring your friends. If, on the other hand, you are asked "do you want it pregrated?" Find another store. If you're not willing to grate your own cheese..
Ok, diatribe over. You mix all of these things together:
We are doing this now, because your dough is going to rise WITH the topping on it. This is a peculiarity of some bread dishes. This allows it to permeate a bit into the dough. It's a good idea.
So, let's go to the dough. Essentially, this is a bread dough. You need a hefty 2 cups of unbleached white flour , and half a cup to 3/4 cup of durum. Here, you could use rougher semolina flour. Combine that , and leave it be for a minute, as you add a cup of room temperature water, a tablespoon of yeast, half a tablespoon (1.5 teaspoons) of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a bowl. Then add your flour. Mix it with a dough paddle (see below). After one minute, your dough is going to look like:
And after 5 minutes, you get what you want:
This, ragazzi, is your dough paddle, as compared to your dough hook. Normally, we use the dough hook to make bread dough. We don't do that here, because the durum is very high in glutens, and we do not need the force that the hook brings to things. Just a nice mixing action. Use this tool when you make pizza dough too.
Now, we come to a VERY important point in making this, and any baked product ragazzi. Here, we are going to coat a metal, 9x9 pan, with olive oil, put the dough in, and push it to the corners. Be patient: the dough is a bit elastic, and it will resist. Be gentle, be consistent, and it will happen:
Annalena now has to discus two points. First, this recipe calls for a 9x9 inch pan. This pan is 2 inches deep. So, the volume of dough to fill that pan is 9x9x2 cubic inches, or 162 cubic inches. You need to keep that in mind, if you change pans. So, for example, if you are using an 8x8 pan, which is 2 inches tall, you have a volume of 128 cubic inches. Your bread will rise very high, and you will need to cook it longer. It is unlikely for you to size DOWN; however, many people, not having the right size pan, move UP. Bad thing to do, ragazzi. Let's assume, for example, you decide to use your baking sheet, since after all, that's what pizza shops use for Sicilian pizza.
A baking sheet is 13x18x1. Hence, you have a volume of about 240 cubic inches. You don't have enough dough, by half. So you have to kick the amount of dough - and topping up. And if you want something that rises 2 inches tall, now you need 480 cubic inches of dough. Hence, you need to triple the amount. Working with 9 cups of flour is not impossible, it is just difficult, and your mixer will not accommodate it. You will need to do it in two batches. Triple everything but only double the yeast. There are reasons for this we shall discuss at another time.
Also, the choice of your pan is important. Metal holds heat better than glass, or ceramics do. As a result, the outside crust of your dough will be crispier, a bit more "burnt" in a metal pan, than in glass, and definitely moreso than ceramic. Keep that in mind if you have an option.
After you've spread out the dough, and spread the topping on it, sprinkle some dried oregano on it. (This, too, was one of the universals. There was oregano on all versions of the sfinciuni Annalena saw).
You need to let this rise now. This is how it looked after an hour:
And after 2 hours:
And after four:
There is a decided drop in how much more the stuff rises after the first two hours. You WILL get more rise, and a lighter finished sfinciuni, if you let it rise more than two hours, but you don't have to.
Get it into a preheated 350 degree oven, and bake for 45 minutes. You get:
Once this is done, do NOT refrigerate the leftovers. And note that this is not a bread that is going to keep for long. If you make it today, you should eat it today, and if not, by tomorrow, or toss it. It would be a shame to waste it though, so if you're not going to finish it, share it.
If you make this, ragazzi, and use a different topping, please share that information with us.
Next time, we make one of the most ubiquitous of all Italian dishes and, when done correctly, one of the most exquisite: eggplant rolatini
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