L'Italo-Americano

LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano dissolved in 4 tbsp of warm water 2 tsp of sea salt approximately 2 cups of water 2 1 / 2 t b s p e x t r a v i r g i n olive oil For the topping: 4 cups (approximately 1 liter) of canned tomatoes 1/2 lbs of coarsely grated c a c i o c a v a l l o , o r p e c o r i n o romano 10 salted anchovies (the ones you use for pizza) 2 lbs of onions 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs oregano to taste Place the flour on a clean surface and create a well in the middle. (Note you can use your stand mixer with the appropriate kneading attachment, too). Add in the yeast, already dissolved in l ukewar m water , a tabl e - spoon of olive oil, add some more lukewarm water and start mixing. W o r k t h e d o u g h f o r a couple of minutes, add the s a l t , t h e n t h e r e s t o f t h e water and the oil little by lit- tle. For the water, do as you would normally when you make bread: add it until you see your dough is not dry a n d c r u m b l y a n y m o r e . Knead the dough until it is soft and firm, make a ball and let it rest for couple of h o u r s i n a b o w l g r e a s e d w i t h s o m e o l i v e o i l a n d c o v e r e d w i t h c l i n g f i l m , possibly in the oven. While the dough rests, you can take care of the top- ping: Slice the onions thinly and place them in boiling water for a couple of minu- tes. This will help sweeten them and make them easier to digest. Drain them well, then sautée them with some olive oil and a couple of the anchovies on medium heat. Add about half a glass of water and let the onions simmer for about 10 minu- t e s . O n c e t h e y a r e r e a d y , add the tomato, some salt to taste and half of the gra- t e d c a c i o c a v a l l o . L e t t h e s a u c e c o o k o n l o w h e a t u n t i l i t r e d u c e s ( a b o u t 1 5 / 2 0 m i n u t e s ) , s t i r r i n g every now and then. Once it's ready, turn off the heat and let the sauce rest. T a k e a s h e e t p a n a n d grease it with some olive oil. A n o t e a b o u t t h e p a n s : a 12x12in pan works for about half of the dough you make with this recipe, so you can either make two sfincioni or select a bigger pan. Put s o m e o l i v e o i l o n y o u r hands and flatten the dough in the pan, making sure it r e a c h e s a l l c o r n e r s a n d edges. A d d t h e r e m a i n i n g anchovies and caciocavallo on top of the dough. Then, add all the sauce, making s u r e i t c o v e r s t h e d o u g h entirely ( sfincione doesn't have a sauce-free crust like pizza!). Top it all off with o r e g a n o a n d w i t h t h e breadcrumbs, then let it rest again for another 2 hours. Heat the oven at 460 F (240 C) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Sfincione has very simple, traditional ingredients, including, anchovies and extra virgin olive oil. Photo. Roberto Maggioni/Dreamstime Continued from page 30

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