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| Happy Halloween!?!? |
So after a real crazy week where we had a blizzard before Halloween and most of New Jersey was without power this entire week, I have done more landscaping then cooking as of late, but needless to say I just got my internet back and I wanted to let you all in on a secret...If you love pizza or went to college and spent your evening drinking cheap beer and eating dollar slices then your in for a real treat (or trick) sorry had to put that in there a lot of pun intended. Happy Halloween!!!
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| Sicilian Pie!!! |
This recipe is for homemade from scratch Sicilian Style Pizza, this is my grandma's recipe and has been tweaked over the years and so has the toppings. We decided to dress this beautiful lady up with some Juliane zucchini and chopped fresh red peppers and do the other half with a strong original topping, pepperoni. This came out great, I would recommend setting some time away for this recipe though, mainly for the dough, the more you let it rise, the better and the more to MANGA!!! So lets get cooking!
Sicilian Pizza
Like I stated before you should set some time away to let the dough rise, anywhere from 2-6 hours if you are going to use it that day and if you want you can make it the day before and let sit covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator and this will give enough time for the precious dough to rise.
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| Fresh Zucchini and Red Pepper Toppings! |
Recipe Ingredients:
-6-8 cups of all purpose flour
-Packet of Yeast
-E.V.O (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
-32 oz Shredded Mozzarella
-8 oz Parmigiana
-2 Cans of 12oz Tomato Paste
-2 Cans of 8oz Tomato Sauce
-Fresh Basil
-1/2 lb of Chopped Beef
-2-4 tbsp of sugar
-1 Large Onion
-2-3 cloves of Garlic
-Italian Seasoning
-1/4 stick of Butter
Toppings:
-Be Creative!!! We used Zucchini Shavings and sliced Red Pepper for half and Pepperoni for the other half!!!
Sicilian Pizza Dough
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| Dough! |
Ok, so before we do anything else, you need to make your dough, In a Large mixing bowl pour in your 6-8 cups of all purpose flour. Take a mixing spoon and cover the end and also your hand in your E.V.O (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) this is a helpful hint when your cleaning up, it helps keeping the dough from sticking to your hands or mixing spoon while making your dough. Now take a cup of Luke warm water and slowly pour into flour a little at a time while mixing together until dough becomes solid, add in the whole packet of yeast and a few teaspoons of E.V.O and continue to mix together. Once your dough is mixed together and settled pound down and place back in mixing bowl. Let sit for 2-6 hours if your going to use it that day, if not place plastic wrap over the bowl and place in the refrigerator.
Now the next step is to prepare a large square deep dish, I use one that was used for baking, it is strong and sturdy and really is perfect for making the Sicilian Style Pizza, you can use a round pizza dish or make it in any shape you want, again make it your own! Place non stick spray on pan, or you can use a mixture of butter and E.V.O which helps with the dough sticking to the pan. Now you need to pound the dough down and mead it by hand place in the center of the pan and start spreading the dough out a littler at a time, until the whole pan is covered. The recipe I gave is for a large pizza, you can alter the amounts to make a smaller or larger pie or more than one at a time.
Once the dough is spread, I like to add a crust, by slowly indenting your fingers around the outside of the dough. This helps to hold the sauce and gives a nice thick crust to dip in after your eat your slice! Then I sprinkle my Italian Seasoning over the dough all while pressing it into the dough as I go. This adds flavor and texture to the dough. The last thing I do before making the sauce is place in a microwavable cup 1/4 stick of butter and Italian seasoning and place into the microwave for 30 seconds. Then take a basting brush and baste the entire crust with the mixture adding flavor to the crust. Now we are ready for the meat sauce.
Meat Sauce
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| Fresh Meat Sauce |
After you have prepared your dough you can start making your sauce. First in a medium-large sized pan place a half pound of chopped beef and some E.V.O on medium heat until the meat is cooked through. You can add turkey or chicken any meat you want to the sauce, really gives it a great taste. Once you know your chopped meat is done you can add in your 2 cans of tomato paste and 2 cans of tomato sauce, if the mixture is to dense you can always add a little bit of water to loosen it up. Then place in your 2-4 tbsp of sugar, chopped basil & Onion as well as your crushed cloves of Garlic, Salt & Pep to taste and mix all together over medium-high heat. Again the sauce should be done in 20-30 minutes and if you want to let it sit on low heat for longer you can, this gives the ingredients more time to mix and become a part of each other, it will only add more flavor. You can also use my recipe for homemade sauce as a replacement, found in a few other of my posts, if you have the time.
Sicilian Pizza
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| Step 1 : Meat Sauce |
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| Step 2 : Parmigiana Cheese |
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| Step 3 : Mozzarella Cheese |
Now, once we have our sauce completed we can start to build our masterpiece like
Leonardo da Vinci creating the Mona Lisa, you need to create your own work of art. First, take a large spoon and place your sauce onto the dough starting in the middle and working your way out, until everything except the crust is covered, don't be shy with the sauce, its delicious!
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| All together before going into the oven! |
After all the sauce is on the pie, you can save what is left over if there is anything for the crust. Then its time for the cheese & toppings, cover the sauce with your parmigiana cheese then on top place your shredded mozzarella, once both of these are ready you can now top your Sicilian Pizza.
Place your oven on bake at 375 degrees and then let the magic happen, the pizza should be ready in 30 minutes check on it and keep an eye. Once the crust and cheese melts and is a nice golden color you know your good to go. Let the Pizza sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting to let the sauce cool and make it easier to remove. Now all you have left to do is enjoy!!!
THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
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| BELLA!!!! |
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| BELLA!!!! |
This Pizza came out perfectly and tasted amazing, I love making this and best of all it leaves everyone full and counting down the days until I make the next one!!! My Grandma would make this pizza every Friday for all 5 of her boy's (my father and my uncles) and they never left hungry that is for sure, this pizza will fill you up and I know I can only eat One or Two slices myself. I hope you all enjoy, next is Pops Pasta & Seafood, Hope everyone had a safe Halloween and I look forward making a lot of great dished for everyone for the Holidays! Stay True to yourselves and remember Suo Tutto Mangiare!!!! IT'S ALL TO EAT!!!
-freddy g
