Crispy Catanese Pizza is typical of Catania.
With little yeast, rolled out with a rolling pin and very thin, it becomes crispy and, indeed, dry when cooked.
The most common versions are white with very thinly sliced onion or red with tomato sauce, oil, and oregano.
Do not confuse it with “Sicilian pizza,” which generally refers to a set of ways for preparing pizza.
In the United States, especially among the Italian-American communities of Boston, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Utica (New York), Sicilian pizza refers to the American version of sfincione which is served as street food in aluminum trays for takeout.
What follows is the gluten-free recipe with rice flour and dried sourdough.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Electric oven, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups rice flour
- 3 oz dried sourdough
- 10.5 oz water
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (+ for seasoning)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 7.5 oz tomato pulp
- to taste oregano
Steps
Mix the yeast in 4.5 oz of water. Add it to the flour, continue with the other water, oil, and salt.
Let rise for 8 hours.
Make 3 balls of 6.3 oz each or one single dough.
Roll out with a rolling pin (square or rectangular pan).
Season with tomato sauce (a thin layer), oregano, oil, and salt.
Bake in the oven at 430°F for 15 minutes.
Version with fresh sourdough
If you use dry sourdough (powdered), you can substitute it for fresh considering that:
100 g of fresh sourdough ≈ 33 g of dry sourdough + 67 g of water (in proportion).
For the crispy Catanese pizza recipe, if the version requires 90 g of fresh sourdough, you will need:
270 g of fresh sourdough
adding 180 g of water from the dough.
Keep in mind that dry sourdough is more concentrated but still needs a long fermentation time to develop aromas and digestibility similar to fresh yeast.
Keep in mind that dry sourdough is more concentrated but still needs a long fermentation time to develop aromas and digestibility similar to fresh yeast.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is sfincione?
Sfincione Palermitan style is a kind of soft focaccia topped with a generous tomato and onion sauce, sliced caciocavallo cheese, oregano, and a few anchovies.
