The SICILIAN ROSTICCERIA is a selection of savory specialties that can never be missing in a Sicilian bar, where they are offered and enjoyed at any time of the day, from breakfast to aperitif or a quick meal. They are tempting baked goods – mainly small pizzas and little calzones – soft and indulgent, full of filling and perfect to eat in just a few bites, capable of turning a work break into a cheerful and unforgettable moment of the day.
Contrary to what you might think, preparing these little delights does not require too much time or effort: the dough with which they are made, almost a brioche, is soft and fragrant and does not require a long rising time, while the filling is simple and of course can vary according to taste, provided you always choose top-quality ingredients. Tradition calls for tomato and mozzarella for the small pizzas and cooked ham and mozzarella for the calzones, but there are many variations, almost as many as the bars in the Palermo area.
Get to work and you’ll soon find your favorites…
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Low cost
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 16 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (type 00)
- 0.53 oz fresh compressed yeast
- 1 cup water (warm)
- 3 1/4 tbsp sugar
- 2.5 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 tbsp lard (soft)
- 1/3 cup tomato passata
- 4.4 oz mozzarella (well drained)
- to taste dried oregano
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 4.2 oz cooked ham with herbs
- 3.5 oz mozzarella (well drained)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 2 Baking sheets
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Scale
- 1 Brush
Steps
To prepare the SICILIAN ROSTICCERIA start with the brioche-style dough.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl put the flour, sugar, salt, soft lard and the dissolved yeast.
Combine all the ingredients and knead for 10 minutes until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous dough.
Transfer it to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a cloth and let it rise in a switched-off oven with the light on for at least 2 hours or until doubled. The important thing for activating the yeast is that the minimum temperature is 81°F.
After the first rise, divide the dough into pieces, making 8 pieces of about 1.8 oz (50 g) for the small pizzas and another 8 of about 2.1 oz (60 g) for the calzones.
Roll out the smaller balls to a thickness of about 0.16 in (4 mm), place in the center two teaspoons of seasoned tomato passata with salt and oregano, and the mozzarella. I used pizza mozzarella, well drained.
Also roll out the larger balls, place in the center a stick of mozzarella wrapped in the cooked ham. Moisten the edges with water and fold into a calzone. Seal the ends well so they do not open during baking.
Place both the small pizzas and the calzones on two baking sheets, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise again for 1 hour in the oven.
After the second rise, brush the calzones with the egg mixed with milk and bake the rosticceria in a preheated conventional oven at 392°F for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and enjoy the rosticceria in all its soft goodness.
VARIATIONS
You can replace the sugar with an equal amount of honey.
Make other savory snacks by wrapping the dough spirally around hot dog sausages, brush them with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Add an anchovy fillet to the small pizzas and fill the calzones with ricotta and salami.
