Cunzato bread is a typical Sicilian dish, easy to make and full of flavor.

“Cunzato” means stuffed, and that’s exactly what it is, a fragrant semolina bread loaf stuffed with ingredients from the humble kitchen, yet rich in flavor. Originally, it was the meal of the poorest, hence also called “bread of misfortune” or “unfortunate bread”, made with bread seasoned with oil and little else, whatever was available, some tomatoes, sometimes cheese, and the inevitable fragrant oregano. The bread, often stale, was heated to soften it and seasoned. Over time, cunzato bread has become a traditional dish and has been enriched with other typical ingredients from the area of origin, becoming for example the Aeolian cunzato bread in the Aeolian Islands, using cherry tomatoes and Salina capers, olives, and salted ricotta, or the Messina style in which pickled eggplants, sun-dried tomatoes, tuma instead of primo sale, and olives are added, while the “basic” version with tomatoes, primo sale, and anchovies is from Scopello.

Read how to make cunzato bread with the easy recipe you find below, as usual, right after the photo 😉

You might also be interested in the following recipes: