Sfincione

Sifincione is a Sicilian pizza, a deep crust pizza or more like a focaccia bread topped as a pizza. Or it could also be called a focapizza! (as we saw on a Foccaceria menu in Puglia) Whatever it's called it's not pizza but it is delicious all the same.

Ingredients
for the Dough
500g plain flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried yeast
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
350g water

for the breadcrumbs
180g ciabatta bread, cut into 1cm thick slices
30ml extra-virgin olive oil
30g Caciocavallo cheese, (if you can't find a vegetarian version of Caciocavallo then Emmental cheese is a good substitute - being buttery/nutty in flavour)  coarsely grated

for the sauce
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 x 400g tin of tomatoes
salt

toppings
60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
150g caciocavallo cheese, coarsely grated

Method

Begin by making the dough. Add the flour, salt, and dried yeast to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Then pour in the olive oil and water. Stir well. The dough will be pretty but this is fine. Cover bowl with a damp tea towel or tightly with clingfilm and place in refrigerator at least 12 hours. It can be left for up to 3 days!

Next prepare the breadcrumbs by placing slices of bread on a rack in an oven heated to 150C for about 30 minutes. Once dried out break them into a food processor. Add the olive oil and grated cheese and then blitz into a fine powder. Set aside. 

In the meantime start on the sauce. Over medium high temperature heat the olive oil in a large pan,  and the onions and cook for about 15-20 minutes until they are well cooked and browned.

Add the dried oregano, chilli pepper flakes and continue to cook for a further 30 seconds. Then add tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat down and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste.  Then push the sauce through a sieve with a wooden spoon to ensure a smooth sauce. Set aside to cool.

When ready to bake the sfincione. Grease a roasting tin with half of the olive oil.  Then remove the dough from the bowl and place into the tin. Pour the remaining olive oiil over the top and spread gently with your hands. Let rise at room temperature for a further 2 hours before gently stretching and shaping it to the edges of the tin. Let rise another 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 230°C and place a baking stone directly on the bottom. 

Spread a liberal amount of sauce over the dough, keeping 0.5cm away from the edge. Gently as it goes as not to deflate the dough too much. Next add all the grated cheese and sprinkle over with some of the fine breadcrumb mix. Finish with a good drizzle of olive oil. 

Bake directly on the pizza stone until top is golden brown and the base is cripy. It should take at least 25 minutes. Rotate once half way through cooking to give the sfincione an even bake.

Remove from the pan with a spatula and place onto a chopping board. 

Eat immediately!