Here we are in Sicily again, with another special and particular type of pizza/focaccia 🙂

I have already wrote a post about the most famous Sfincione (symbol of the city of Palermo), this instead is a traditional recipe of the town of Bagheria.

This is also not a light recipe, and it’s something traditionally eaten during feasts, but nowadays it is made all year long. And it’s really tasty!

It is a very rich recipe, with a lot of good cheese and other typical Sicilian flavors.

The cheese that is usually used is the tuma or the primosale, which are the first and second stage of maturation of the Pecorino cheese. Someone use to add also fresh sheep ricotta, but I think it’s rich enough also without 🙂

 

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

• 300 g flour (Manitoba if you have, or some strong flour)
• 150 g durum flour, “semola rimacinata di grano duro” (but in this case I used “sfarinato di grano duro” Senatore Cappelli)
• 300 ml water
• 7 g fresh baker’s yeast
• 20 g lard
• 10 g salt

Topping:

• 500 g onions
• 300 g primosale cheese (or tuma)
• 100 g freshly grated pecorino (or caciocavallo)
• 5-6 anchovies, salt-cured
• 150 g bread (without crust)
• extra virgin olive oil
• dried oregano
• black pepper 
• salt

 

1. First we have to make the dough the day before. Sift the flours, add the yeast and 2/3 of the water and start to work it. While it’s working add the remaining water, then when it’s almost shaped into a mass add the salt and then the melted lard. Work it some minutes and then place it in a bowl greased with some olive oil, cover it and place it in the fridge for 20 hours.
2. After the 20 hours take out the dough from the fridge, squeeze it on your working table, work it for 2-3 minutes with your hands, then form again a ball and place it back in the bowl, covered, for another 2 hours, for example inside the oven.
3. Meanwhile prepare the topping. Cut the onions into thin slices and cook at low heat with extra virgin olive oil and about 100-150 ml of water. Cook with a cover for at least 30 minutes. When they are soft add half of the anchovies to it (see the photo):
4. Then prepare the “muddica“, the breadcrumbs: discard the crust from the bread and then reduce it into small pieces with a food processor. Then take a pan and toast it (but not too much), adding extra virgin olive oil. Then let it cool down and mix it in a bowl with the grated Pecorino cheese and a generous amount of dried oregano.
5. After the 2 hours flatten the dough with your hands, carefully, at about 1-1,5 cm thick and place it in the oven tray, previously greased with extra virgin olive oil.
6. Take a small pan, heat some olive oil and melt in it the remaining anchovies, gently. Then pour it over the dough.
7. Now cut the primosale cheese in slices and place it over the dough. Then cover with the onion sauce and for last with the breadcrumbs/Pecorino/oregano mix. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
8. Bake at 220 °C, static mode, for about 25 minutes. The perfume that will be spreading all over the kitchen it’s amazing, I can’t describe it 🙂
9. When it’s ready let it cool down at least 10 minutes. Enjoy! 🙂
10. It is very good also rewarmed 1 or 2 days later!

 

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Products used:

Flour: “sfarinato di grano duro Senatore Cappelli” from Mulino Marino, and “Artizan” buza kenyerliszt (from Pasztoi Malom, but with 14,2% proteins)

Cheese: primosale and pecorino