
Authentic Sicilian Pizza
Authentic Sicilian Pizza has a thick, focaccia like crust that is thick and soft in the middle but golden and crispy on the bottom. This authentic family pizza recipe will be your family’s new favorite.
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This pizza recipe is made in a half sheet pan and is thick, gooey and cheesy. It may sound like it makes a lot, however, when you and your family taste it you may find that it doesn’t serve as many people as you thought.
Sicilian Pizza is great for a family dinner. There is not a whole lot prep, serves a crowd and makes a complete meal when paired with some garlic bread and a salad.
When I make this pizza dough, I make it in my Kitchen-aid mixer with the dough hook. It makes quick work of the mixing and kneading.
The longer you let the dough rise the better, however, it will still made a delicious pizza dough even after only an hour. I personally like to let it go for about 3.
This dough can even be put in the refrigerator to rise if you really want to get a jump on dinner and make the dough the day before.
I do suggest using bread flour for this, however, if you don’t have any in your pantry just go ahead and use All Purpose flour.
When you are ready to pan up the dough, make sure you put ever bit of that 1/4 cup of olive oil on the pan first. I know it seems like a lot but I promise it is one of the secrets to this Sicilian pizza.
I try to pull the dough into a rectangular shape before laying it in the pan.
Take your finger tips and work the dough out to the sides and corners of the pan. If you aren’t able to get it all the way to the edges, let it sit for about 10 minutes and work it further out. It stretches a bit easier after it sits for a few minutes.
The topping options for this Sicilian pizza are truly endless. Pepperoni, sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, black olives, green olives even anchovies. (Not pineapple, that is just not a pizza topping in Ha!)
Make this pizza! Take a picture and show us in the comments! I can’t wait to hear how much you all enjoy this!
Print Recipe
Authentic Sicilian Pizza
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 1 1/2 cups water lukewarm
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 pkg active yeast do not use quick rise or no rise yeast
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour you can use all purpose if you don't have bread flour
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil for pan
PIZZA
- 1 cup pizza sauce use your favorite pizza sauce or a cup of prepared spaghetti sauce
- 8 oz pepperoni regular or turkey pepperoni
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese shredded or deli sliced
- 1 oz Parmesan or pecorino ramano cheese grated
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH
- Combine the water, oil, sugar and yeast in a bowl and let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes until yeast is bloomed and foamy.
- Add the flour and salt. Combine to create a dough. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for at least 5 minutes. Add more flour if needed. This should not be extremely sticky.
- Coat the inside of of bowl with a light layer of olive oil. Place dough into bowl and then turn dough over so that both sides have a layer of oil. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise. If you are in a hurry you can let it go for as little as 1 hour but to get a really good fluffy Sicilian crust, let it rise for about 3 hours.
- Spread the 1/4 cup of olive oil on a half sheet pan. Take the dough out of the bowl and pull it a bit to get it approximately the size of the pan. Place dough in pan and gently coax it with your fingers to the edges of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
FOR THE PIZZA
- Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the dough leaving about 1/2 inch without sauce around the edges.
- Layer most of the mozzarella cheese over the sauce
- Add the pepperoni and whatever other toppings you like
- Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan
- Bake on the bottom rack of a preheated 450 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the bottom of the crust is a nice golden brown and crispy.
Notes
If you enjoyed this recipe you may also like:
Mama’s Macaroni Salad
Angel Hair Pasta With Bacon & Tomatoes
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4 Comments
Julie
Omg this is the best pizza ever! I crave it every Friday night! Pizza night!
Two Southern Sweeties
I’m so glad that you like it!!
Sharon
Oven roasted heirloom tomatoes and broccolini! Fantastic recipe. I used all purpose flour and proofed the covered dough overnight in the refrigerator. We loved it.
Two Southern Sweeties
That sounds fantastic Sharon! My mouth is watering a bit now Ha! So glad that you enjoyed the recipe.
~Tracey