I'm a huge fan of Sicilian Pizza. For years I only bought it at my favorite pizza parlors, meanwhile at home I made my own Neapolitan Pizza so often that I had it down to a science!
But why had I never attempted to make that beautiful, thick, cheesy Sicilian pizza at home? I have no idea. Maybe I thought it was some secret recipe that was difficult or required professional expertise or pizza shop secrets. But then one day I realized that if I could make stellar homemade Neapolitan then I should also be able to make homemade Sicilian too, so why not give it a shot?
And so I began trying out various Sicilian pizza recipes at home, all the while making my own little changes here and there, until I landed up with a Sicilian pizza recipe that is not only delicious, but easy and quick to make. I make the dough entirely in my electric stand mixer, but you can mix it by hand as well.
You will need a large rectangular baking pan with a raised edge, which is one of the essentials for this recipe.
Give it a try and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. I'd love to know how yours turned out!
Ingredients for topping:
1 1/4 cup prepared pizza sauce (we love DelGrosso yellow label jarred sauce)
1/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
Garlic powder to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Ingredients for dough:
In stand mixer add:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 (.25 oz) packet rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup + 7 Tablespoons warm water
Mix above ingredients in stand mixer for five minutes on medium speed until dough is smooth and only sticks to the bottom of mixer bowl.
If mixing by hand without a mixer combine all ingredients and knead on countertop for five minutes.
Spread 2 Tablespoons olive oil across entire surface and up the sides of a large rectangular metal baking pan.
Put dough in pan and turn over to cover with oil. Use your hands to gently push and stretch the dough across the pan, trying to cover the surface of the pan. Be careful not to make a hole in the dough.
Wrap pan securely with plastic wrap and allow to rise in turned-off oven for 1 to 2 hours or until dough rises to top edges of the pan. If using rapid rise yeast this could be as little as one hour.
Remove pan from oven and very carefully remove plastic wrap taking care to not push down on dough.
Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.
Carefully spoon sauce across top of pizza and use back of spoon to very gently spread the sauce across the entire pizza. Do not press down on the dough. Be careful not to flatten the dough out. You want to keep the dough as risen as possible and not break any air bubbles.
Sprinkle sauce with Parmesan or Romano cheese and garlic powder and then top with grated mozzarella cheese. Add pepperoni if you like but avoid heavy toppings or those with a lot of moisture.
Bake in preheated 450° Fahrenheit oven for 12 minutes then turn the oven up to 500° Fahrenheit keeping an eye on the pizza and checking it every 1 to 2 minutes. Pizza is done when cheese is completely melted and and starting to bubble and brown very slightly. Use a fork to lift a corner of the pizza to check that the bottom is golden brown. Be careful not to overbake.
Remove pizza from oven and allow to cool for two minutes and then cut into large squares with a pizza wheel.
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Article copyright Laura Beth Love 2021 and may not be republished in print or other media without express written permission from the author. For any link updates or corrections leave correct info in comment area.
