Detroit Style Sfincione Pizza
I’ve been in a focaccia / pan pizza kind of mood recently and decided to give a go at a hybrid of a traditional Sicilian Sfincione and a classic Detroit pizza. It’s really the best of both worlds where the salty umami punch of the sfincione meets the crispy caramelized crust of the Detroit pizza. Short video about the process below.
The dough is an adaptation of my focaccia recipe (link here) where I have increased the hydration by 2%.
Ingredients:
2 large onions
6 drained, peeled, crushed tomatoes from can
Grated parmigiano or fresh diced caciocavallo
Anchovy fillets mashed into small pieces to taste
Dried oregano to taste
Olive oil
Toasted breadcrumbs preferably coarse
Salt and pepper
Pizza dough
Directions:
Oil a rectangular pizza pan liberally. Line the edges of the pan with shredded mozzarella and spread the dough out with your fingers so that it covers the bottom evenly. Press into the dough to ensure you’re spreading it evenly across the pan. Add more shredded mozzarella to the top side of the dough along the edges.
Cover with a cloth and allow it to rise for about 1 hour. In the meantime finely dice 2 yellow onions. Saute onions in olive oil on medium heat until golden. Mix in half a cup of breadcrumbs and dried oregano and toss until evenly mixed through. Allow to cool.
Using a spoon or your fingers, sprinkle the mashed anchovies across the surface of the dough. Spoon on a thin layer of the crushed tomatoes so it covers the entire surface. Using a cheese grater, add a layer of caciocavallo evenly across the entire surface of the dough. On top of the grated cheese, spoon on the sauteed onions mixture and spread out evenly across the entire surface. Using a knife, cut thin strips of caciocavallo and line the top edge of the pan, on top of the shredded mozzarella, with even more cheese.
Cover again and allow to rise for one more hour. Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, checking periodically. As it bakes the outer edge of cheese will form a wonderful crispy crust.
