Authentic Sicilian Pizza

Photo: Alejandro Duarte

Ingredients

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 cups water

4 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

WARNING: No, this is NOT "deep dish" pizza. If it were, it would be called "Authentic Chicago Pizza". Also, if you are a sophisticated world traveler who lovingly remembers the taste of Neapolitan pizza - THIS IS NOT IT.

What this IS is a wonderful pleasant bread with light toppings that are really just a way of flavoring the bread - and using left-overs. So think of it as bread - not pizza. It is exactly the way great grandma (and her great grandma) made it. even some whole wheat if you want) 3 packets yeast (use fast rising if you must - we never have. If you use "blocks" of yeast you're on your own)

2 or 3 small canned Italian plum tomatoes (we're talking left-overs, not a whole can). Squeeze them to release the water and then pull them apart into "pinch" size pieces (right - there's not much left and there isn't supposed to be much).

4 tablespoons chopped onion (maybe less - it's up to you).

1/4 pound raw Italian sausage with casing removed and pulled apart into "pinch" size "gobs" PLEASE USE GOOD SAUSAGE.

1/2 can flat anchovies (OK - not even all authentic Sicilians like anchovies - but this one does).

2 or 3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (we're talking a DUSTING NOT A DOUSING).

2 teaspoons dried herbs and spices for pizza (Dell Alpe Italian Seasoning for Pizza is available in a jar in the Chicago area).

If you have other left-overs you want to put on, fine, but this is BREAD not "Tombstone Pizza".

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO: 1. Put 5 cups of flour in a REALLY BIG BOWL.

2. Put the salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl.

3. Mix it up a bit.

4. Get the 2 cups of water hot enough so you can put your finger in without burning it - my tap water gets hot enough.

5. Pour the water into the flour bowl and stir until all the flour is wet. If the mixture is not beginning to pull away from the side of the bowl, add some of the 1 cup flour you have left until it does leave the side of the bowl.

6. Add the olive oil and keep stirring. Using the flour you have left, keep adding flour until the mixture is JUST dry enough so you can work it with your hands. If the bowl is really big enough, you can do the kneading right there in the bowl (great grandma

I do). If you aren't lucky enough to have a bowl that big, I guess you have to take the dough out of the bowl and mess up your counter top. WHETHER YOU WILL USE ALL THE FLOUR LEFT FROM YOUR 1 CUP OR WHETHER YOU WILL NEED A LITTLE MORE DEPENDS ON THE HUMIDITY (or phase of the moon). IF YOU HAVE SOME LEFT OR NEED A LITTLE MORE - OK. The dough should be dry enough so you can knead it without having to pull it off your hands, but not so dry that your hands have no dough on them when you're done.

7. Wipe the inside of a medium size bowl (not metal or plastic) with olive oil.

8. Put the dough in the medium size bowl, then take it back out and turn it upside down (now there's oil on the top of the dough). Put a cloth over the bowl and let it rise for 1 hour.

9. When the hour is up, punch the dough in the middle to knock it down. Take it out of the bowl and knead it - maybe ten times, not a lot. Then let it rest for 10 minutes with the cloth back on it.

10. Put some olive oil on a round pizza pan (NOT DEEP DISH).

11. Use a rolling pin to start rolling the dough out - it's easier to finish shaping it into the pan by hand. Pull, stretch, push.

12. Put the cloth back over the dough and let it rise again for 1 hour.

13. When the hour is over, take the cloth off and brush a little olive oil over the top of the dough. Put the toppings on - giving each little "pinch" of topping a little push to keep in on the dough and put the Parmesan on last.

14. Put the bread into an oven preheated to 450 degrees and bake for about 18 minutes.

15. Let the bread cool ON A RACK. If you let it cool in the pan or on a flat surface the bottom will end up like cardboard.