Sicilian pizza is one of the most common types of pizza in the world. You can differentiate it with the shape and the crust so here we bring you the authentic Sicilian Pizza Dough Recipe.
One way to determine the type of pizza that you have is to look at the crust. You will immediately see if a pizza is Neapolitan, New York, Chicago Tavern Style or Sicilian just by looking at the crust.
That is why it is very important to make sure that you make the crust with the best ingredients. The dough is the foundation of the pizza, so you need to make it authentic.
The initial thought when you make Sicilian pizza is you will use less water. This is not a high hydration recipe and you are going to be okay with just 60 percent hydration.
Another signature of the Sicilian pizza is that the dough is rectangular. So you need a rectangular pan to cook this pizza in; make sure you have an oven-safe rectangular pan before you make this recipe.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and substitutions
– 250 grams of All-purpose flour(1 cup almost)- You can use bread flour here as well. You do not need a high protein content flour like the 00 flour here.
We are aiming for a nice bread-like dough with crispy edges, so it is best to use all-purpose flour, and you can keep the expensive 00 flour to make other crusts like Neapolitan.
You can use 00 flour, but if you make Sicilian pizza using this flour, you need an oven that can go to higher temperatures, which is 500°F and above. I have used all-purpose flour for the best results.
– 155ml of water- You can use room temperature water since I have used instant yeast for this recipe. I like to use instant yeast and NOT active dry yeast as instant yeast can be directly added to the pizza dough.
– 3/4 tsp of Instant dry yeast- I try to use instant dry yeast to avoid trying to activate the dry active yeast. If you are well versed with using dry active yeast you can do so but I would prefer instant dry yeast.
– 1 teaspoon sugar
– 2 teaspoons olive oil
-One teaspoon of salt
Procedure
Step 1. Mixing
Before anything else, get a bowl and then coat it with one teaspoon of olive oil. Make sure that you put the olive oil all over the surface of the bowl and then set it aside.
Mix the warm water, dry yeast, and the sugar in a separate bowl. Stir it continuously until it creates a little bit of foam and then let it sit for at least 10 minutes to activate the yeast.
In another bowl, get three cups of flour and then mix it with the salt. Leave the other cup of flour for your workspace later on in the next steps.
Mix the rest of the olive oil in the yeast mixture and then stir it. Keep on stirring until all the ingredients are mixed evenly and the oil has been spread on the mixture.
Then pour the wet mixture into the flour and salt mixture. Stir it with a rubber spatula so you can scrape off the flour that sticks on the bowl, make sure that you get an even mixture.
Step 2. Kneading
Grab some of the extra flour and then rub it in your hands. This should be done when the dough is already mixed properly and is ready to be stretched.
Pour the rest of the unused flour on the table and then get the dough. Place the dough right on top of the flour and then start kneading with your hands as if to mix the flour in the dough.
After around 10 to 15 minutes of kneading the dough, you will start to see it become smoother. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic and then form a big ball from the dough.
Step 3. Rising
Close and seal the dough by folding the edges inward and towards the bottom. Form a smooth dough so that the air and the other needed gases will not escape from the dough.
Place the dough in the oiled bowl with its bottom edges facing down. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then put a towel over the plastic wrap.
Let the dough rise by letting it rest for at least 30 minutes. There is an ample amount of yeast in the mixture so the dough will rise quickly and double its size in just half an hour.
The doubled dough will be enough for at least 2 large pizzas. So cut the dough in half and then stretch it to the desired length and then brush the edges with olive oil.
Top it with whatever you desire and let it cook. The yeast will still continue to do its work in the oven and it will lift the crust giving the Sicilian pizza its classic thick crust with the airy interior.
The Extra Flour
Notice how the recipe separated the other cup of flour? Well, that is for good reasons. It not only prevents the dough from sticking to the pan, but it also helps it get a better texture.
You see the extra flour that is kneaded into the dough gives a crisp finish at the bottom of the crust later when it is baked. This keeps the crust sturdy for when it is topped with heavy ingredients.
It also makes the bottom of the dough crispy giving you the impression of a bread that was cooked under intense heat. The bread-like texture of the crust makes the pizza better.
Use A Pan
When you bake a Sicilian Pizza, you would want its crust to fry rather than just bake. So the advice is to use a metal pan so you can brush it with oil and give the crust a better browning.
This is also where the Sicilian pizza gets its rectangular shape. The edges of the pizza will be crisp and have perfect brown color that blends well with other ingredients.
==> Check out my favorite Pan that I use…
Rising the Dough
One factor that differentiates the Sicilian Dough from most pizza doughs is that it is often rested for longer than most. It is given time to rise for longer than pizza doughs such as the grandma pizza.
It is often compared to the grandma pizza and yes, we admit that they are pretty similar. The difference, however, is that the Sicilian Pizza Dough has an advantage when it comes to rising.
The longer that it is allowed to rise, the better the dough. You see, since the Sicilian Dough rises longer, it gives the sudden boost that makes the pizza crust thick yet crunchy and chewy at the same time.
It also makes the crust softer on the inside. So while it can hold heavy toppings, it can also make a nice texture on the inside that resembles the texture of toasted bread.
What makes Sicilian Pizza different?
The crust can either make a pizza great or it can make it bad. So you have to be careful in choosing the ingredients and the technique that you use when making pizza doughs.
The Sicilian pizza differs from other pizzas because of its crust, first and foremost. It is spongy and thick,unlike most pizzas that have dense yet thin crusts that are also crispy.
The ingredients used in Sicilian Pizza dough are different from Neapolitan as well. It uses sugar to make it brown when cooked and olive oil on the pan to create a nice, crispy, soft texture.
Sicilian Pizza also uses different ingredients on the toppings. For example, the dough is better paired with goat cheese instead of mozzarella or other cheese that comes from cows.
However, in the New York version of the Sicilian Pizza, mozzarella can be used. It also uses a lot of tomatoes that can sometimes overpower the flavor of the other ingredients.
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