My Sicilian

[Count Porcula]

Thought I'd toss this out for comments. It's my version of Sicilian. I lived in Miami when I was a kid. There were a lot of Italians and mob characters in my area, but the Colombians scared them away, and neighborhoods changed, and I could no longer get a decent pizza of any kind, especially Sicilian. That's all behind me now. My recipe is better than anything I've had in a pizzeria.

I use aluminum quarter sheets, which I season with cheap olive oil. I don't generally use fancy ingredients. For example, I use garlic powder instead of crushed garlic. I'm shooting for the kind of pizza they make in old-fashioned places, not the stuff Bruce Willis called "reindeer goat cheese pizza." I use Stanislaus Saporito sauce, and my favorite cheeses are GFS provolone and Costco bagged mozzarella.

This pie was a little sloppy, but it tasted phenomenal.

I used Publix bulk Italian sausage, which is really good. My favorite pie is cheese, though. Any idiot can make a good pizza with 50 toppings, because the salad covers the flaws. If you can't make a great cheese pizza, you can't make pizza.

 

[smokerjim]

Looks like some good pizza

 

[motocrash]

Good looking pie.
I'll take a piece or three.

 

[Steve H]

Looks great. This idiot wouldn't mind knowing the crust recipe if you don't mind.

 

[Count Porcula]

Will post today. You may need to fiddle with it because ovens vary.

 

[OldSmoke]

I’d love to have the crust recipe as well!

I love traveling in Italy, trying all of the regional pizzas. With wine of course.

 

[Count Porcula]

First of all, I use an aluminum quarter-sheet pan. I tried steel, but the bottom of the crust didn't brown as well as it did with aluminum. To keep pizzas from sticking, I baked a thin layer of olive oil onto the pans, just like a cast iron skillet. It works really well.

I am used to really thick Sicilians, but I cut 25% from the dough recipe for this one, if memory serves. It will give you a crust maybe 7/8” thick. I only put oil on the outside of the dough; none inside.


297 g bread flour or 300 g high-gluten
202 g water
1.5 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. Instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp. pepper
1.5 tsp. gluten if using bread flour

I use a food processor with a chopper blade. I process the dry ingredients to mix them, and then I add the water and give it maybe 45 seconds. You want a coherent dough. A little sticky is fine. You can oil your fingers when you handle it.

I take it out and fold it into itself a few times to build tension in the dough, for oven spring. Then I pour oil into the pan so it makes a puddle about 6” wide. You can't overdo the oil. I roll the dough in the oil, flatten it out to sort of a rectangle about 6” long, cover the pan, and let the dough relax for at least 20 minutes. Then I spread it out in the pan. If it resists, I let it rest again so it loosens up.

I use my fingers to make dents in the stretched dough, and then I turn it over so the dents are on the underside. This adds texture to the bottom of the crust. After this, I let the dough rise nicely.

You can parbake or not, depending on what makes you happy. Lately I have been parbaking the crusts for 9 minutes at 550 with convection. After that, I slop on the sauce and cheese and bake again.

If you're not happy with the crunchiness of the crust, you can put a steel or stone in the oven. After you pop the pie out of the pan, set it on the steel or stone for maybe 90 seconds. You shouldn't need to do this, but you might.

I use 12 ounces of cheese and 6-8 ounces of sauce.

I will post a picture of the tool I made to get the pizzas out of the pan. It's very handy. It's pretty obvious how you make one. Just cut a 14” or bigger pizza pan and bend it. It gives the pizza great support because it's nearly as big as the pizza.

It doesn't really matter what kind of flour you use. I have used bread flour, All Trumps, Bouncer, biscuit flour...you name it. They all work. They just taste different. I believe I made this pie with Primo Gusto high-gluten flour from GFS. My favorite flour.

 

[Sven Svensson]

Now you made me drool on my shirt.

 

[bbqbrett]

That looks real tasty. The color on the crust is great.

 

[Count Porcula]

Thanks. I would tell you it's great, but people have different tastes in pizza. For me, it's my dream pizza. Exactly what I like.

I used to leave a 1/2" bare border around the cheese, but these days I try to make some of the cheese get in the crack between the pan and the crust so it burns and turns crunchy.

 

[Steve H]

Thanks for the recipe. Saved for future use!

 

[Count Porcula]

Don't be afraid to fool with it. I have tried temperatures all the way from 450 to 550.

 

[JLeonard]

So i'll take a couple slices with a cold tall beer!
Jim

 

[clifish]

Thanks for the recipe. Saved for future use!

yeah like this weekend...lol

 

[Steve H]

yeah like this weekend...lol

Who? Me? Lol!

 

[Fueling Around]

Outstanding
I so love Sicilian
Thanks for the crust recipe. Any idiot can add topping, but the genius lies in the base.

Thanks for the recipe. Saved for future use!

Don't you have a new pizza oven arriving in the near future.

 

[indaswamp]

Love the pizza tool!!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

I must be hungrier than all of you...I would take the whole pie! Looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

Ryan

 

[bauchjw]

Nice! We’d be ordering that every week! Thank you for the recipe!

 

[Steve H]

Outstanding
I so love Sicilian
Thanks for the crust recipe. Any idiot can add topping, but the genius lies in the base.


Don't you have a new pizza oven arriving in the near future.

Yup!