Sfincione
(Deep dish pizza originally from Sicily)
| Ingredients | |
| 30ml | olive oil |
| 150g | onions, sliced |
| 3 | cloves garlic, finely chopped |
| 1kg | tomatoes, skinned, seeds removed and diced |
| 500g | wheat flour |
| 25g | yeast |
| 230g | milk, lukewarm |
| 1 | egg |
| 5ml | salt |
| 10g | honey |
| 50ml | olive oil |
| 20 | green and calamata olives, pitted |
| 200g | mozzarella chees |
| Basil pesto | |
| Salt and pepper to taste | |
| Fresh herbs (oregano, mint, basil), chopped | |
Method
- Make the topping with the first five ingredients by sweating the onion in the olive oil. Add garlic, sweat, then the tomatoes, salt and pepper and herbs to taste.
- To make the dough: Put the flour into a bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and gradually pour into the flour while mixing to make a thin batter. Cover the batter with a little extra flour, and let it rise until the flour shows large cracks (should take about 30 minutes). This indicates that the mixture is starting to ferment (called pre-ferment).
- Combine the egg and salt; add the pre-ferment, honey and 50ml olive oil. Knead the mixture into smooth dough. Place a lightly oiled glass bowl about three times the size of the dough (cover with cling wrap and allow it to rest for about half an hour or doubled in size).
- When the dough feels light and airy, gently place it into a lightly oiled baking pan. Gently press it into the corners. Cover with cling wrap and rest for another half an hour in a lukewarm place (20-25°C). Once the dough has raised to the full, use your fingers to poke holes into the dough all way to the bottom of the pan.
- With a teaspoon heap the tomato mix into the holes. Sprinkle over the olives then drizzle with about 30ml olive oil. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, then put grated cheese over and cook for another 5 minutes or until well-browned. Drizzle pesto generously over the Sfincioni and serve immediately.
