Cuddureni of Lentini with onions and sausage. The Sicilian cudduruni, included in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, is a rustic filled focaccia made with a re-milled durum wheat semolina dough. It is prepared in the municipality of Lentini, in the province of Syracuse and, like the Catanese scacciata in its various forms, the Ragusan Scaccia or the Palermitan Sfincione, it belongs to the large family of Sicily’s most famous baked products and is a cornerstone of Sicilian cuisine and beloved grandmother recipes.
The Sicilian cudduruni, like scacce, scacciate and similar items, originated as a poor man’s dish made using scraps of the semolina bread dough, which was once made at home with sourdough starter, and filled with wild herbs, cheese, oil, olives and little else. Today the cudduruni has somewhat lost its purely rural character and has become more of a rustic filled focaccia according to taste and season, with broccoli rabe, stewed onion or wild chard, following the same path as the Catanese scacciate.
“U cudduruni” in its original shape looks like a half-moon, obtained by filling half of a large disk of leavened dough and folding the other half over the filling, then sealing the edges. It was once mainly prepared for Christmas, but now it is made for various occasions, such as picnics or family Sundays; in summer, with Giarratana onion, it is one of the most appreciated dishes. Being a traditional recipe, every family has its own version, but always delicious, and today I will share the recipe kindly given to me by a childhood friend, dear Michele Rossi. A true Lentinese D.O.C., despite what his surname might suggest…
Let’s go to the kitchen now and prepare u cudduruni with onions and sausage together. But first, as always, if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to make “u cudduruni”
- 3.5 cups re-milled durum wheat semolina
- 1 7/8 cups water
- 2 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 packet (7 g) active dry yeast (or 12 g fresh (about 0.4 oz))
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2.2 lbs onions (preferably white)
- 14 oz sausage (optional)
- 2 oz black olives (Sicilian or whatever you have)
- 14 oz cheese (Sicilian tuma or primo sale, or a stretched-curd cheese)
- 1.5 oz caciocavallo (Ragusano or Parmesan)
- to taste salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (or 100 g peeled tomatoes (about 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup))
- to taste black pepper
Tools
- Bowl
- Pan
- Oven
Preparation of cudduruni with onions
Gather the flour in a bowl, add a little lukewarm water and the yeast, and stir to dissolve it.
Add the sugar, the oil, and a little more water, mix and finish with the salt and the last portion of water.
Work the dough roughly in the bowl, cover and let rest for ten minutes.
Resume working the dough in the bowl until you obtain an elastic and uniform mixture; just bring the edges toward the center — this will take about 7–10 minutes. Alternatively, you can knead everything with a stand mixer or a bread machine.
Turn the dough out and form a ball, then place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size. This should take about 2 hours or a little more.
While the dough is rising, peel and slice the onions. Put them in a pan with a generous splash of oil and salt and let them soften, then add a glass of water and continue cooking over medium heat until they are very tender.
Add the tomato purée (or a few peeled tomatoes), stir to season, turn off the heat and let cool. Transfer the risen dough (photo above) onto a floured work surface,
line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil it. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out a large disk about 1/4 inch thick and move the baking sheet under half of the sheet of dough — the other half should remain resting on the work surface. Fill the half on the tray with the cooked onions, distributing them evenly,
add crumbled sausage with the casing removed, add the Sicilian black olives (or whatever you have at home), slices of primo sale, tuma or a stretched-curd cheese, sprinkle with black pepper and scatter a handful of grated cheese on top.
Fold the free half of the dough over the filling (now the entire preparation will be on the tray), close it to form a large half-moon and seal the edges by forming a rope-like edge. Prick the surface with the tines of a fork, brush with olive oil and bake in a hot oven at 482°F (250°C) for 40–45 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving. If you want to prepare the cudduruni in advance, you can, but keep it warm by covering it with parchment paper directly on the surface and wrapping with kitchen towels (and even a fleece blanket if it’s cold); this way it will retain heat for up to three hours.
Storage notes and tips
You can replace the sausage with a bit of cooked ham or even make a meat-free version by omitting it completely.
Leftover cudduruni that is not eaten the same day should be stored in the fridge covered with plastic wrap and consumed within 2 days. In that case reheat it in the oven or in an air fryer at 302°F (150°C) for 10–15 minutes, or in the microwave for the time needed.
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