In honor of National Lasagna Day, we thought we’d try something a little different! Scaccia (also called Lasagna bread) is a stuffed bread from Sicily, specifically the villages of Ragusa and Siracusa. It’s made of dough and layered in tomato sauce and caciocavallo cheese then folded up and baked. It is absolutely divine! Caciocavallo cheese can be difficult to find but provolone is a suitable substitute. This recipe from Saveur serves 4-6 people and takes an hour to bake.
Ingredients:
- 1 1⁄4 tsp sugar
- 1⁄4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups semolina flour
- 2 tablespoons EVOO
- 1⁄2 tsp sea salt, plus more for taste
- AP flour, for dusting
- 2 cups whole peeled canned tomatoes in juice
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup loosely packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 oz caciocavallo cheese, thinly sliced (or provolone cheese)
Process:
- In a large bowl, whisk 1⁄4 teaspoon sugar and the yeast with 1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the semolina flour, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the 1⁄2 teaspoon salt until the dough comes together.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, pour the tomatoes and their juice into a blender and purée until smooth. In a small saucepan, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Pour the tomatoes into the saucepan along with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the basil, and season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oven to 450°. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a 1⁄16-inch-thick, 26-by-18-inch rectangle, and position the rectangle so that a long side is nearest to you.
- Spread half the tomato sauce over the middle three-fifths of the rectangle, then sprinkle the sauce with half of the cheese slices.
- Fold the two plain sides of the dough over so their edges overlap in the middle of the rectangle by 2 inches.
- Spread the remaining sauce over the left two-thirds of the dough, and sprinkle the sauce with the remaining slices of cheese.
- Fold the righthand, plain third over the sauce, then fold the lefthand side of dough over, like completing the tri-fold of a letter.
- Fold the dough crosswise to create a 9-inch-long rectangular pie.
- Transfer the pie to the prepared loaf pan, pierce the top with the tines of a fork, and bake until dark brown on the top and lightly charred at the edges, about 1 hour.
- Immediately invert the pie onto a rack, remove the loaf pan and parchment paper, and let the pie cool in this position for 10 minutes. Invert the pie right-side-up before serving.
Source:
- Recipes and photos by Saveur
