Sfincione Siciliano #BreadBakers

Sfincione Siciliano is a staple street food of Sicily, with a fluffy bread base topped with strong cheese and a rich onion anchovy tomato sauce, finished with breadcrumbs, more cheese and oregano.

 

Sfincione is pronounced sfeen-CHOH-neh (IPA: /sfin'tʃoːne/) in Italian. From what I can discern, it’s like if focaccia married cheese pizza with a little nod to Ligurian pissalandrea in the sauce but without the black olives. Yeah, a little mixed up maybe but the Sicilians are on to something! It’s delicious. 

I shared four pieces with my brother- and sister-in-law and when she sent me a thank you text, she called them pizza squares. Perfect name! If you can't say sfincione, just tell your family you are making pizza squares for dinner. 

Sfincione Siciliano 

The traditional cheese for this dish is called Siciliano Caciocavallo but the interwebs assure me that the best substitute is an aged provolone for both taste and texture. This recipe is adapted from one on Tavol Arte Gusto and makes one sfincione in a 12x17 in or 30x43cm pan. Start this recipe early in the day to allow for the three rising sessions. 

Ingredients

For the base:

1 teaspoon dried active yeast

1 ½ cups or 355ml warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups or 380g 00 Italian flour

2/3 cup or 100g re-milled durum wheat semolina

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the pan

For the onion sauce:

3 medium-sized onions

2 tablespoons olive oil (use the oil from the anchovies and top up if needed)

2 anchovy fillets in olive oil

1 can (1 lb 12oz or 800g) peeled Italian tomatoes

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

For the toppings:

7 oz or 200g Sicilian Caciocavallo or Provolone Stravecchio

5 – 6 anchovy fillets in oil

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

2-3 sprigs fresh oregano

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, along with the teaspoon of sugar. Within a few minutes, it should start to create bubbles and foam up. This is how you know your yeast has been activated.

Measure your 00 flour, semolina and salt into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, if using. 

Add the yeast dissolved in water, and knead until you’ve created a soft dough. 

Little by little, add the oil—continuing to knead throughout.

The dough should appear smooth and well-developed (forming a cohesive elastic mass.) Finally, shape the dough into a ball.

 Cover the bowl and let the dough to rise for at least 3 hours; it should quadruple in volume.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. First, thinly slice the onions.

 

Place them in a pot with the oil and anchovies. Let them heat through for 5–6 minutes over high heat.

Puree the tomatoes in a blender (or with a hand blender), then add them to the onion pot. 

 

Fill the tomato can up about a quarter with water to make sure you get all of the tomato out and add it to the pot as well. 

Bring to a low boil then the sauce over low heat for about 45 minutes.

The result should be a rich, thick sauce. Add the baking soda and salt and stir well. 

Remove from the heat and set aside and to cool.

Finally, take the risen dough and spread it out in a 12x17 in or 30x43cm baking pan lightly greased with oil. Spread the dough using your fingers, gently tapping it with your fingertips trying your best not to pop any air bubbles.

Add the anchovy fillets broken into bits.

At this point, cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for another hour or so.

Cut most of the cheese into pieces and grate a little, about 3-4 tablespoons. Mix the grated cheese with the breadcrumbs.

After that rise in the pan, add the remaining toppings to the dough: first the pieces of cheese.

Followed by the sauce.

Then finish with the grated cheese/breadcrumbs, and a handful of fresh oregano leaves.

Finally, let it rise for another hour. Near the end of rising time, preheat your oven to 475°F or 246°C.

Bake the sfincione in the hot oven, on the lowest rack or, if possible, in direct contact with the oven floor for 10 minutes. Move the pan to the middle-upper rack, to bake for another 20 minutes or so. The topping should be dry and the base nice and puffy and golden.

Remove from the baking pan. 

Cut in squares to serve. Golden bottom! I was a bit concerned by the dark edges, but the bottom was lovely and crunchy.

So fluffy! 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s time for my Bread Baker group to share their recipes. Our theme this month is Italian bread. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below.

• Cornetti Dolci (Italian Croissants) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Focaccia Bread Art from Making Miracles
• No-Knead Green Chutney Focaccia with Tofu from Cook with Renu
• No Knead Potato Focaccia from Sneha's Recipe
• Overnight Ciabatta from A Messy Kitchen
• Overnight Focaccia from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sfincione Siciliano from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Cherry Tomato Focaccia from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Sfincione Siciliano!

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Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves #BreadBakers

These pecan banana bread mini loaves are wonderfully tender, sweet and nutty, perfect for breakfast or snack time. Eat all four or give some away as gifts!

Sometimes I like to bake precisely to give the baked goods away. It’s a great way to show friends and family that they matter to me and because I love to bake, making gifts allows me to do that without stockpiling. 

That said, these mini loaves freeze beautifully so if you don’t eat them all or give them away, wrap them well in some cling film and pop them in the freezer for another time. 

Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves

The foil mini pans I use for these 5 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in x 2 in or 146mm x 82mm x 50mm. They are technically disposable or recyclable but I do wash them well and reuse them. If you don’t have cooking oil spray, you can grease them with oil, using a pastry brush. 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons or 85g butter

1 cup or 200g sugar

2 eggs

2 large ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups or 190g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

1 cup or 120g chopped pecans

For decoration: 12 pecan halves

For greasing the pans: canola oil spray 

 

Method

Grease four mini loaf pans (see note above ingredients list) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

 

Beat together the butter and sugar until they are fluffy and light yellow. Add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and salt and beat well until combined. 

Combine the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift them into the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream, ending with the last of the dry ingredients.

Stir well in between each addition to combine. 

Fold in the chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into your prepared pans and decorate with the pecan halves.

Bake in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the little loaves are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing to serve. 

As mentioned above, these make great gifts and also freeze well. 

 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes. Our theme this month is bread with fruit! Many thanks to our host Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

• Pan di Ramerino (Rosemary Raisin Buns) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mini Apricot Cranberry Panettones by A Messy Kitchen
• Pumpkin Apple Sourdough Loaf by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves by Food Lust people Love
• Apple Crisp Sourdough Loaf by Sneha's Recipe
• Fig Bread by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Sourdough Blueberry Breakfast Loaf by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Oat and Raisin Quick Bread (Gluten Free) by Passion Kneaded

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves!

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Cheddar Marmite Rolls

Cheddar Marmite Rolls are soft and fluffy, filled with savory Marmite and extra sharp cheddar and baked till golden brown. A great breakfast or snack!

Marmite is a thick, salty spread made from yeast extract, enjoyed by many and probably hated by even more. It’s a very divisive ingredient by all accounts. Some people say that you have to grow up eating it to like this quintessential British foodstuff but I know quite a few British folks who are on the NOPE, NEVER side. 

As further proof, I did not grow up eating it. In fact, I only came across it as a fully grown adult but I love it! Hot buttered toast with lashings of Marmite? Divine. Steaming bowl of pasta with creamy butter and generous spoon of Marmite stirred through it? The perfect meal. Fortunately, my husband feels the same. 

In fact, I made these rolls at his request. This month our host chose Loaves of Love for our Bread Bakers theme so I asked what he would like me to bake. Cheddar Marmite Rolls was the answer. We both adored them.

Cheddar Marmite Rolls

If you don’t have Marmite, you can use its less pungent Australian sibling Vegemite. I don’t know of any other possible substitutes! This recipe is adapted from one on Tasting Thyme. It makes 12 large rolls. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups or 360ml warm water (100-110°F or 38–43°C)

1 tablespoon potato flour/starch 

2 1/4 teaspoons active dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

3 2/3 cups or 456g strong white bread flour, plus extra for rolling out

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the mixing bowl

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup or 60ml Marmite

8 oz or 225g grated extra mature cheddar, divided

Method

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the potato starch, yeast and sugar with the warm water and set aside for a few minutes. This should activate the yeast. If it doesn’t start to foam and bubble up, discard and start over with new yeast. 

Add the flour, olive oil and salt to the yeast bowl. 

Mix with the dough hook until it forms a sticky dough. 

Knead for 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and stretchy. Form it into a tight ball. 

Drizzle a little olive oil in the bowl and roll the dough ball around to coat. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes - 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and put it on a lightly floured surface. 

Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 12 x 16 in or 40x30cm. Put the Marmite in a heatproof bowl, and warm gently in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds, just to loosen it. Spread this over the rectangle of dough, making an effort to go to the sides but leaving an edge at the top and bottom. 

Separate out about small pile of the grated cheddar to use for topping then sprinkle the dough with the rest in an even layer. 

Dampen the top edge with a little water, then from the longest edge, roll the dough up into a tight log. 

Finish with the seam side down so that it sticks closed. 

Line a baking pan with parchment or a silicone liner. 

Cut the roll into 12 reasonably equal slices.

Place them on your prepared pan, close together but leaving a little space for expansion. Cover with greased cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 mins – 1 hour.

Once your rising time is nearly up, preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Sprinkle the risen rolls with the reserved grated cheese. 

Bake the rolls for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Do be careful not to let the cheese topping burn. You can cover the buns with foil if you are worried, to protect the top while they finish baking. 

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack.

Leave to cool slightly before serving warm. (We ate the leftovers either at room temperature or after a quick zap in the microwave. Delightful either way.)

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, our Bread Bakers theme this month is Loaves of Love because it’s February, the month for Valentines! Celebrate with someone you love by baking for them. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the loving links below. 

• Beet Feta Twisted Heart Bread from Magical Ingredients
• Cheddar Marmite Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Cheesy Twisted Heart Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Cranberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Double Chocolate Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Extra Gooey Sticky Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Heart Shaped Rolls from Sneha's Recipe
• Rose Petal Pistachio Cardamom Sourdough Bread from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Cheddar Marmite Rolls!

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