Upside Down Sicilian Pizza
Description:
The Sicilian-style pizza is a popular variety of pizza in the US, identifiable by its thick, rectangular crust. As you may have guessed, the Sicilian pizza has its origins in the Italian island of Sicily, where a similar type of pizza, called “sfincione” is popular. The upside-down pizza is a variation that reverses the usual “sauce + cheese” order on top of pizza, and was popularized by L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn. This recipe is an approximation that can be easily made at home - no complicated dough stretching is required!
Ingredients:
(Makes one 10x14 inch pan pizza)
½ lb (225 g) low-moisture mozzarella cheese, sliced
2 tbsp (30 g) pecorino cheese
Dough
4 cups (500g) flour
1 ⅓ cups (325g) water
2 tbsp (30g) sugar
2 ½ tsp (12.5g) salt
¼ tsp (1.25g) dry yeast or 3.75g fresh yeast
2 ¼ tbsp (30g) olive oil
Sauce
1 cup (240 g) pureed or crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp (40 g) tomato paste
Salt
Preparation:
Mix all dough ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Using wet hands, stretch and fold the dough over itself. Rest 30 minutes, repeat, and rest another 30 minutes. Perform one last stretch & fold and allow dough to rise, covered, for 1 hour at room temperature. Place dough ball in a container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 72 hours. 2 hours before making pizza, leave dough at room temperature to warm up.
To make sauce, mix all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste with salt.
Grease a 10 x 16 inch (25 x 40 cm) baking pan with olive oil. Use your hands to stretch out the dough in the pan, stretching it into the corners of the pan. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, then press it again with your hands to fit in the pan. Allow the dough to proof another 30 minutes. Then, lay the slices of mozzarella over the dough and spoon the sauce evenly over the mozzarella. Sprinkle with the grated pecorino and bake at 550 degrees (285 C) for 20 minutes until the bottom and edges of the pizza are crispy. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes:
To make a pepperoni pizza (shown below) , top with ½ lb (225 g) thick-sliced pepperoni
