SICILIAN - Spring 2025 (Apr-Jun) Cuisine of the Quarter

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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I tried my hand at Sicilian pizza, using some of my sourdough discard for the dough. I followed this recipe pretty slavishly:

except that I used 100% 00 flour. I topped it with bufala mozzarella, tomato sauce, parm, oyster mushrooms and fava leaves. It looks the part.

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But there’s a lot I would adjust for my next effort.

  1. Longer rise - the dough was very wet, but it still didn’t give me the airiness I wanted. which might be because…

  2. I should’ve par-baked the dough un-topped. The recipe instructed me to bake the dough with the sauce for 10:00 before putting the other toppings on. This was a mistake, as the crust was weighed down and under-cooked. Plus!

  3. The oyster mushrooms weren’t as done as I would’ve liked, and their stems were tough. Next time pre-cook them and remove stems.

  4. I also should’ve been more generous with the cheese. This is true of almost every recipe.

The good news is that the three pieces I have left over are prime candidates for reheating and correction.

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A local pizzeria had crusts that were as thick as Sicilians, but light and airy. 80% hydration, three day fermentation. I tried to reproduce it for a long time but couldn’t get the same rise. Then I asked their pizzaiolo, who said I was using too much yeast, at about 1 teaspoon of instant yeast. I dialed it back, and it worked. Sadly, the owners moved to Connecticut.

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Have you had Golden Boy, Grant/Green and now Taraval/25th YAY

Their crust is yeasty, crunchy, lovely

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I’ve loved their pizza in the past, especially the clam, but haven’t been there in years.

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Since I was using sourdough starter discard, I added no yeast at all. I might try fermenting overnight - this was a single day process. My math skills are pretty weak, but the proportion of flour to water is 471g to 324g (and the starter’s 50/50), which SEEMS like a high enough hydration.

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Inspired by Mangia Bedda’s crostata of ricotta, fig jam and pistachios, I made a tart instead, ricotta with candied orange peel, a thin layer of Clementine Jam on the base of the crust, followed by the ricotta, jam dollops and a sprinkling of pistachios. This is a 4 inch tart, I made about a quarter of the filling which worked out to be the perfect amount.
Waiting impatiently for this to cool!

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the books listed on the EGullet thread linked above include pretty much all those I would recommend as specifically sicilian except possibly those by Anna Tasca Lanza which are also solid. The Coria book (maybe just half of it) may still be available in translation under the name Siciy Culinary Crossroads
which covers only the 4 eastern provinces. Very good recipes.

Good recipes also in paula wolfert’s world of foods, if you own that book, as well as in Arthur Schwartz’s broader southern Italy collection. Bread and sweet recipes in many books including those of Carol Field and Slowfood’s L’ Italia dei Dolci if still in print.

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Does a black Manhattan count? The sweet vermouth in a typical manhattan is replaced with Sicilian Amaro! :grimacing:. That’s my Monday!

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Found my caponata recipe:

2 lb eggplant (preferably small but not Asian)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (preferably Sicilian)
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups olive oil
11 garlic cloves (from 2 heads), chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste (preferably from a tube)
1 (28-oz) can whole Italian tomatoes, finely chopped and juice reserved
5 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup drained bottled capers, rinsed
¼ cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/3 cup red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (I cut down on the sugar & prefer to add a bit of balsamic)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes and transfer to a colander. Toss with 2 tablespoons sea salt. Let drain 1 hour.

While eggplant drains, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté three fourths of garlic, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes with their juice, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes.

Bring 3 cups salted water to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, then cook celery until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking.
Gently squeeze eggplant to remove excess moisture and pat dry.

Heat 1/4 inch oil (about 2 cups) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until it registers 360°F on thermometer, then fry eggplant in 4 batches, stirring and turning constantly with a slotted spoon, until browned and tender, 3 to 5 minutes per batch. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.) Transfer to paper towels.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from skillet, then reduce heat to moderate and cook onion and remaining garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce, eggplant, celery, capers, vinegar, sugar, pepper, and remaining teaspoon sea salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, uncovered, then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

Buon appetito!

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