Sfincione

[Random]

Sfincione or sicilian new years pizza. I was looking for a recipe for Utica tomato pie when I came across this recipe on serious eats. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/12/sfincione-sicilian-new-years-pizza-with-bread.html

If course I had to make it. The hard part was finding the caciocavalo cheese. Lucky for me that my wife works at an Italian grocery! The results were delicious! The only change I will make is to use way less brad crumb next time.

Also, I'm still looking for a good Utica tomato pie recipe.

 

[Becky]

I've never heard of this before! What was it like? I imagine that with both the base and the breadcrumb topping it has the potential to be quite dry, is that right or does the rich filling compensate for that?

 

[Random]

This description from Serious Eats is why I decided to try and make this. I couldn't describe it any better. It came out perfect, with the exception that I used way too much bread crumbs which did make it a bit 'sandy'? Next time ill use way less breadcrumb and it should be perfect.

As the thing bakes, the bottom crust essentially deep fries in olive oil, giving it a remarkably crunchy texture and awesome flavor. Tall and spongey but never dense or doughy, sfincione should have several distinct textural and flavor elements: the olive oil-saturated crunch of the bottom crust, the moist, tender spongy middle layer, the savory, sweet and acidic sauce with plenty of onion and anchovy, and the light, crumbly crunch of the bread crumbs on top.

 

[Becky]

My mouth is watering!!

 

[VoluntaryBaker]

This is not at all what I came to the forum to look for. But, I saw a funny-looking Italian word I’ve never seen before; so, I clicked. And, wow! I really want to make this thing. Any particular reason to use canned whole tomatoes crushed by hand rather than simply using canned crushed tomatoes?

::edit:: I just realized that my first ever post in this forum is in a long-dead thread.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum @VoluntaryBaker! Your curiosity is very welcome here

Re the tomatoes, I imagine it comes down to person preference. In a way you have more control over things when you use whole tomatoes, whereas canned crushed tomatoes don't have a lot of texture.

 

[VoluntaryBaker]

Thank you. The tomatoes make sense. I just hadn’t thought about it that way.