Sicilian Pizza

Servings 1 to 2 12'' Pizzas
Preparation 60 Minutes
Cooking Time 15 Minutes
Difficulty Easy-Medium

1 Basic pizza dough recipe
3/4 pound fresh sardines, cleaned and gutted with, heads, tails and backbone removed
Sea salt for dredging
1 pound plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound young mild Caciocavallo or Provolone cheese, diced or sliced

Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Servings 3-4
Preparation 20 Minutes (+2 hours rising time)
Baking Time 20 Minutes

1 cup of warm water (105F)
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of honey
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of yeast

Difficulty Easy

METHOD:

Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Put warm water (80 to 110°F) into a bowl. Add salt and honey and mix with a spoon. Add yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Gradually add flour and olive oil and start mixing.
3. When the mixture gets too heavy to mix, start kneading the dough with your hands.
4. Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add water bit by bit until if forms a nice coherent ball. If your doug feels more like batter, it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour, do it by small amounts.
5. Coat the dough with olive oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with kitchen wrap or a grocery bag. Let the doug rise for about an hour at room temperature, then push it down again so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the next day, put it in a refrigerator.
6. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, put a bit of flour on top and make it into the shape of a pie by stretching it out from the center outwards. Use a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4" thick. Punch some holes in the dough with a fork to let the air escape while the pizza is in the oven
7. Put on your pizza sauce of choice.
Put on your favorite pizza toppings.
8. Bake the pizza in you oven at 400 - 450° F for about 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is light brown.



Additional Information

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You get better results when you use a pizza baking stone. The pizza stone should be preheated to 450F for an hour prior to baking, and should be placed in the middle of the oven.

Sicilian Pizza Recipe

Prepare the pizza dough
Wash the sardines and roll in the salt
Cut up the tomatoes and place in a colander to drain for about 1 hour
In a large pan, heat 1/2 cup olive oil over medium heat, then sauté the onion until it is translucent
Reduce the heat to low, add the tomatoes, and simmer for thirty minutes stirring occasionally
Add half the sardines and take off the heat immediately
Preheat the oven to 425°F
Roll out the dough to an eighth of an inch thick and lay it in a lightly oiled pizza pan
Using half the tomato sauce and all the cheese, cover each pizza and bake 20 minutes
Add the rest of the sauce and place the remaining sardines on top radiating outwards like the spokes of a wheel.
Serve immediately