Sicilian pizza is one of the most common types in the world. This authentic Sicilian Pizza Dough Recipe will go through all the steps that are necessary for making the best sicilian style pizza.
One way to determine the type of pizza you have is to look at the crust. Just by looking at the crust, you will immediately see if a pizza is Neapolitan, New York, Chicago Tavern Style, or Sicilian.
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 making Sicilian pizza is to 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
How to make Sicilian Pizza Dough
1. Prepare the Dough:Add the all-purpose flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt to a bowl. Mix well to distribute the ingredients evenly. Make sure to use instant yeast and not dry active yeast. If you plan on using dry active yeast, then make sure to activate it with lukewarm water and sugar before using it in the dough.
2. Add wet Ingredients—Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and stir until a rough dough forms. Once the dough comes together, transfer it to a clean, flat surface lightly greased with olive oil.
3. Knead the Dough:You should knead the dough for about 4-5 minutes, using olive oil on your palms to prevent the dough from sticking. Pick up the dough, slap it on the bowl a bit hard, and fold it simultaneously. If you aren’t good with that, just do the good old push of the dough with the heel of your palm and then bring it back to the edge of the pushed dough and combine. Kneading is important as it incorporates air and builds the gluten structure.
4. First Rise:After kneading, shape the dough into a ball and cover and place it in the bowl. You can cover the bowl using a wet kitchen towel(so the top layer of the dough doesn’t get dry) or place the dough ball in an airtight container.
This dough will take about 5-6 hours to rise, or you can wait until it has doubled in size.
5. Prepare the Baking Tin:Lightly grease a baking tin with butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Transfer the risen dough to the greased tin and gently press it out to the edges using your fingertips. Stretch the dough as much as possible until it resists.
6. Second Rise:Once the dough is stretched out as much as you can(it won’t touch the edges of the tin yet) in the tin, cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for another 30 minutes.
7. Final Stretch:After the second rise, gently press the dough out again using your fingertips, ensuring it reaches all corners of the baking tin.
The Extra olive oil/Butter on the bottom
It is essential to use the extra olive oil or butter on the bottom of the pan, or else your dough can stick to the pan and create a huge mess when you try to take out the pizza.
Since you will be stretching the dough in the pan, it will absorb a lot of oil as you increase its surface area. That oil is needed to maintain a nonstick barrier between the dough and the baking tin.
Another advantage of using a butter and olive oil mix at the bottom is that you get a nice crispy fried bottom that tastes delicious when you make Sicilian-style pizza.
It gives the pizza a great texture and flavor balance, something you cannot miss.
Use A Pan
It is important to use the right pan to make Sicilian-style pizza. You need a pan that is a good conductor of heat and retains heat so that the bottom and edges of the pizza cook really well.
Just remember it has to retain heat and also not be extremely heavy, as that can mean the pan will take a long to heat up.
Aluminum pans are the best since they are good at conducting heat quickly and can retain heat as well, making the pizza bottom cook really quickly and crisp up as quickly as possible. Some of the pans from Lloyd are excellent for this.
I have used a cake tin, and well, it has its ups and downs. I couldn’t find the right pan that I wanted but hey, it didn’t stop me from making the pizza.
Making the Sicilian Pizza sauce
I have used my classic cooked pizza sauce recipe for this pizza. Many Sicilian pizza sauce recipes add onions, but I don’t think I would like onions in my pizza sauce.
I tried making it, but didn’t like it.
It could be an authentic recipe but since I do not like Onions in my pizza sauce, I just used the usual homemade pizza sauce recipe that I usually love to put on top of my pizzas.
This thick and flavourful pizza sauce makes Sicilian pizza taste absolutely delicious. So do give it a try, and I think you will love it as much as I do.
How to make Sicilian-style pizza?
Now that you have stretched the dough to fit the pan, this is the last leg of the recipe for cooking the Siclian-style pizza.
I have a basic home oven that I’m going to use to cook this Sicilian pizza, so if you think your home oven might not be able to cook this, you are wrong. If it reaches 200°C, that is all you need to cook this Sicilian-style pizza.
1. Par Baking the Pizza dough
In this step, we will cook the dough properly. If the sauce and cheese are put on top directly, they can cause the cheese to get a dark brown colour all over if cooked for longer than 10-15 minutes. The dough will take 25 minutes to cook to completion.
So, first, put a thin layer of the sauce on the dough, cover the tin with foil, place it in the oven, and cook the dough with the sauce on top for 15 minutes at 200°C.
2. Add the toppings
Now add more pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on top. This is the final bake so this is the time to add all your toppings, veggies and anything you like. I have gone with a simple sauce and mozzarella cheese topping.
Bake this without any foil in the oven at 200°C for another 10-15 minutes until the top has turned golden brown and the cheese is also slightly brown.
Take the pizza out of the oven and cut it in to slices and serve.
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