This week I my husband and I started watching some episodes of Paul Hollywood: City Bakes. If you’re not familiar with Paul Hollywood, he is a baker and one of the judges on The Great British Bake Off. We came across the show on YouTube and have been enjoying it. Each episode, Paul travels to a different city in the world and tries the baked goods that city is known for.
In the first episode we watched, Paul traveled to Palermo, Sicily. There he tried a few things I was familiar with, like cannoli (fried tubes of pastry filled with a ricotta cheese mixture) and arancini (fried balls of rice) and some that I wasn’t familiar with like Scaccia, sometimes dubbed lasagna bread.
Scaccia is made from a dough that is half bread flour and half semolina flour. After rising the dough it is rolled out in to a large thin circle, topped with a filling and cheese, folded, topped with some more filling and cheese, and then folded over itself to form a log shape. The resulting bread, after it is baked is reminiscent of a cross between a pizza and a lasagna, with the layers of thin bread and filling.
I decided to try this bread out for dinner yesterday. Since I wasn’t familiar with the bread I wanted to go by Paul Hollywood’s recipe and after a quick Google search, I found it. As with most European recipes, the measurements are given either by weight or in millilitres. I will be putting both those measurements as well as converting to cups for the North Americans reading this. He used fresh yeast in his dough, but I only have dried, so I will put that amount in the recipe.
I knew that we planned to spend some time hiking yesterday, so I decided to make the dough on Friday night and let it ferment in the fridge overnight. Because of the longer rise, I only used a 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of yeast. If you want to make it in an afternoon, you could use the amount of 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) and let it rise for and hour or two to double in size. I do recommend the overnight ferment though, because the flavour will be much better.
The filling was a mixture of sauteed onions and grape tomatoes, into which I stirred a mixture of parsley and basil. Paul’s recipe called for only parsley, but I didn’t have enough on hand, so I used both herbs. I actually really liked the flavour or the basil in the bread. Really the sky is the limit with the filling options for this bread. Much like a pizza, you could customize it to your taste. The cheese called for was provolone. I wouldn’t substitute mozzarella in this case, because the provolone melts differently and doesn’t become stringy.
If you can’t find semolina flour at your grocery store it is available on Amazon. That’s where I ordered mine, and it arrived the next day. Here is a link to the flour I purchased. As I am an Amazon Associate, if you purchase from this link, I receive 10% back on your purchase at no extra cost to you:
Semolina Flour (Wheat) – 1.8 kg / 4 lb Bag
Be aware that the filling should cool before you spread it on the dough, so prepare it in advance when you want to fill the bread.
The recipe says 300 – 330 ml water, but the amount you use will depend on how humid it is. It was a humid day when I put the dough together, and I didn’t even use 300 ml.
[recipe title=”Sicilian Saccia” servings=”4-6″ cooktime=”35-40″ difficulty=”moderate” description=”This delicious filled and rolled loaf is cross between pizza and lasagna. Source: Paul Hollywood”]
[recipe-ingredients]
For the Dough
– 250 g (8.8 oz/1 3/4 cups + 1 tbsp) bread flour
– 250 g (8.8 oz/ 2 1/4 cups) semolina flour
– 1/2 – 2 1/4 tsp dried instant yeast (depending on length of rising time)
– 6 g (1 tsp) salt
– 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
– 300 – 330 ml (1 1/4 – 1 1/2) cups water
For the Filling
– 2 onions, finely diced
– 400 g (2 cups) grape tomatoes, quartered
– 1/2 tsp salt
– fresh cracked pepper
– 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
– 1 bunch of parsley, chopped (or combine a mix of parsley and basil)
– 150 g (5.3 oz) grated provolone cheese
[/recipe-ingredients][recipe-directions]
For the Dough
1. Whisk together flours and salt in a large bowl.
2. Mix yeast with 100 ml (1/3 cup) water. Let stand 5 minutes to activate.
3. Form a well in the centre of your flour then pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil. Use hands to mix together.
4. Continue to add water a gradually until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a soft rough dough.
5. Rub a little olive oil onto your work surface, tip the dough onto it and knead. Continue kneading for 5- 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and silky. Place into a clean bowl, cover and leave to proof for at least an hour or until doubled in size or overnight in the fridge. The longer the better as it will have a greater flavour the longer its left. If you proof in the fridge, bring it out to sit on the counter 1-2 hours before rolling.
For the Filling
1. Heat 1 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onions and saute until soft but not brown.
3. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Saute for about 10 minutes until tomatoes begin to break down.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.
5. Once cool, stir in parsley.
Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F. (I like to do this 1 hour before to make sure the oven is fully heated.)
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter. Spread a bit of olive oil over top of your dough then roll to an approximate 60 cm (24 inch) circle that is about 3 mm thick.
3. Spread 3/4 of cooled filling over dough leaving a 10 cm (4 inch) border. Sprinkle with 3/4 of the cheese.
4. Fold right and left sides toward centre so that they meet in the middle.
5. Spread with remaining filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
6. Fold the top and bottom ends over so they cover 2cm (1 inch) of the dough.
7. Starting with the end furthest away from you fold the dough over on itself repeatedly so you have a neat parcel or log shape after a few folds.
8. Move dough to a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and spread it over the surface of the dough.
9. Bake in the centre of your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden.
10. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
[/recipe-directions][/recipe]
Whisk together flours and salt in a large bowl.
Mix yeast with 100 ml (1/3 cup) water. Let stand 5 minutes to activate.
Form a well in the centre of your flour.
pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil. Use hands to mix together.
Continue to add water a gradually until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a soft rough dough. I didn’t need as much water as was in the recipe this time. Rub a little olive oil onto your work surface, tip the dough onto it and knead. Continue kneading for 5- 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and silky. Place into a clean bowl, cover and leave to proof for at least an hour or until doubled in size or overnight in the fridge. The longer the better as it will have a greater flavour the longer its left. If you proof in the fridge, bring it out to sit on the counter 1-2 hours before rolling.
Heat 1 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft but not brown.
Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Saute for about 10 minutes until tomatoes begin to break down. Remove from heat and let cool.
Once cool, stir in parsley.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter. Spread a bit of olive oil over top of your dough then roll to an approximate 60 cm (24 inch) circle that is about 3 mm thick.
Spread 3/4 of cooled filling over dough leaving a 10 cm (4 inch) border.
Sprinkle with 3/4 of the cheese.
Fold right and left sides toward centre so that they meet in the middle. Spread with remaining filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Fold the top and bottom ends over so they cover 2cm (1 inch) of the dough. (I forgot this step.) Starting with the end furthest away from you fold the dough over on itself repeatedly so you have a neat parcel or log shape after a few folds.
Move dough to a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and spread it over the surface of the dough.
Bake in the centre of your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden.
Let cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
