A sheet of fragrant bread dough enclosing pork, olives and broccoli: the Sicilian scacciata is
a traditional dish that has never left this magical island; to taste
it, you’ll need to head for the home of a genuine Sicilian family, set
amidst Sicilian donkey carts, works of art and citrus groves; or you can
make it with this recipe!
INGREDIENTS
Bread ingredients
500 g semolina
250 g “00” flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon sugar
50 g lard
25 gr brewer’s yeast
400 ml cold water
Filling ingredients:
300 gr pork sausage
500 gr broccoli
60 gr pitted black olives
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
ORIGINS
Sicilians are
very proud of their land and their produce, but the scacciata is a
special source of pride. The scacciata is street food, made from bread,
with ingredients that come from the heart of Sicily, from its warm and welcoming land.
It’s difficult to find a specific recipe for scacciata precisely
because it is one of those dishes that are passed down from generation
to generation, from grandparents to parents and from parents to
grandchildren.
Unofficial sources claim that the scacciata appeared on Sicilian tables
around the 17th century, as the basic dish of peasant communities. The
recipe was handed down in rural areas during the Kingdom of Sicily and
during the period of the Two Sicilies before it landed on urban tables a
century later. According to some popular accounts, in 1763 the prince
of Paternò wanted a scacciata for his Christmas table,
and it seems that since then it has been a traditional dish for
celebrating Christmas. In Sicily today, the scacciata is very
widespread; it is not made industrially. Once again a poor and simple
Sicilian dish becomes rich food, whose flavours turn into unforgettable
emotional experiences.
To savour a true Sicilian scacciata is like taking a trip to these
magnificent places, surrounded by the sea and the flavours of the earth.
RECIPE
Making a Sicilian scacciata
requires patience, the same patience needed to make bread. The
scacciata’s flavour, when it’s done, will be unlike any other dish
you’ve ever tasted in your life. Try it once, and you won’t want to do
without it!
PREPARATION
When making Sicilian scacciata,
you have to start with the bread dough. Crumble the yeast in a bowl,
add 50 ml of tepid water and dissolve with your fingers. Add a teaspoon
of flour and the sugar and mix together; allow the mixture to rest for
about 30 minutes, covering it with a dry towel. Put the remaining flour
and the semolina in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour
and fill it with the lard, the dissolved yeast and the remaining tepid
water. Mix well into a ball. Transfer the dough to a
work surface and knead it until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the
dough into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl, cover with a dry towel and
keep in a dry place for one hour, until it has doubled in volume.
Remove the skin from the sausage and crumble the
sausage. In a large pan heat a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and
soften the chopped garlic in it. Add the sausage and brown on all sides,
then turn off the heat.
Wash the broccoli and cut into pieces; blanch for a few minutes in
lightly salted boiling water, then drain thoroughly. Heat the pan with
the sausage, add the broccoli and sauté. Salt, pepper and season to
taste with some chili flakes; finally, add the pitted black olives.
Divide the dough in two and roll into two thin sheets. Place one
sheet in the oiled pan, cover it with the broccoli-and-sausage stuffing,
then cover it with the other sheet of dough. Seal the sheets together
by pressing lightly with the fingers. Pierce the surface of the
scacciata with the tines of a fork and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Preheat the regular oven to 200°C, or the convection oven to 180°C, and bake the scacciata for 30/40 minutes
until the surface is golden brown and crisp. Brush the scacciata with
extra-virgin olive oil and allow to cool for 20 minutes before cutting
it in rectangles to serve.
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