The holiday season is the one time of year where we get to spend a lot of quality time with your family and loved ones. But what happens when a chunk of your family lives halfway around the world? You connect via food, of course.
When I visit my family in Sicily, food is at the center of all of our gatherings. Whether it’s chowing down on bucatini con le sarde, cutting into a tender cut of pesce spada alla griglia, or getting our daily dose of gelato (one scoop of limone, one scoop of fragola, per favore)—food is how we gather and show our love.
The most important bite of my trip always comes in the form of Sfincione, a Sicilian pizza that will absolutely blow your mind. It has a super-thick crust pizza (hence why the style is called Sicilian pizza in the States) and is topped with the most umami-packed sauce made of anchovy and onion. Don’t stop reading—I promise even the pickiest fish-haters won’t know what it is they’re tasting.
In the town my dad is from, fishing is the biggest industry. So fish is eaten in one form or the other every day. Sfincione is just one of the incredible ways Sicilians incorporate the catch of the day into their diets. And I promise you, eat one slice of Sfincione and you’ll throw away all your preconceived notions about seafood.
So when I am missing my family, especially during the holiday season, I make this delicious pizza. I can close my eyes and take a bite and imagine myself back at the seaside, visiting our local rosticceria and soaking in the sun and salty air with my loved ones. While I’ll be 5,000 miles away on Christmas Day, I will be able to honor my heritage and loved ones with what I put on the table. Cin cin!
How to Make Sicilian Sfincione
In Sicily, it’s common to serve Sfincione on special occasions such as Christmas Eve or New Years’ Eve. Now, you can start your own tradition by making this incredible pizza over the holidays. And if you’re celebrating with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, here’s one for ya!
The base is a thick yet spongy crust, the sauce is one-of-a-kind sauce, and the bread crumb topping adds some textural intrigue. You can find the whole recipe in the link below, but here are the basics.
- Make the dough: The dough is an incredibly important component of Sfincione and can’t be replaced with store-bought pizza dough if you want the true experience. This dough is made with yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and flour and has a single rise period of about 90 minutes.
- Make the sauce: Olives get sautéed in olive oil for several minutes, softening and sweetening. Red pepper flakes, black pepper, tomato paste, spices, and the star of the show—anchovies—get added. Once the fish completely dissolves, add the red sauce and let the whole concoction simmer.
- Make the topping: Combine breadcrumbs (4C is a popular brand for many Italian Americans) and Pecorino Romano cheese with some olive oil. Shred the cheese—Chef John uses a combination of mozzarella and provolone here.
- Put it all together: Generously oil a 13×18 sheet pan, then pull and stretch the dough to reach the side of the pan, taking your time to let the dough settle. Spoon over the sauce, add cheese and bread crumb mixture. Drizzle olive oil on top.
- Bake and serve: Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 35 minutes, or until the pizza is browned and the bottom is cooked. Let cool, cut (into squares) and serve. Enjoy!
Feedback From Allrecipes Members
- “I made this as an appetizer for Christmas dinner,” raved one Allrecipes member. “Everyone loved it. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great.”
- “Very good unique pizza,” said another reviewer. “Easy to throw together even though this was my first pizza from scratch. This year, Christmas Eve was Chef John’s seafood chowder. Christmas day was seafood sausage. New Years day was Sicilian Christmas pizza. You can’t go wrong with Chef John.”
- “This is a really good traditional Sfincione recipe,” shared one Sicilian-American reviewer. “It is very similar to the one my Nana from Sicily made us. She would add pieces of anchovies to the top and sprinkle the topping with oregano. My Nana would make huge batches of this and put it in her warmer for the entire family to snack on all day before our Christmas eve feast. Just smelling it cook brought me back to my childhood.”
- “Unique and delicious,” added another Allrecipes member.