Fried pizza with scarola and crabmeat

The idea for this fried pizza came from a dish by Enzo Coccia, who devised it after reading Ippolito Cavalcanti’s 1837 manuscript Cucina Teorico-Pratica. Scarola is an endive (Cichorium endivia), which is harvested in autumn through to early spring. It’s popular in Italy either raw or cooked. This recipe is for two fried pizze, but it’s always best to make a lot more while the oil is hot.

250 g (9 oz) ball of basic pizza dough

160 g (5½ oz) cooked crabmeat

1 teaspoon colatura d’alici

Extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil, for frying

FRIED SCAROLA

3–4 heads of scarola, washed well

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

10 Gaeta (or similar) black olives, pitted and quartered

2 tablespoons sultanas (golden raisins)

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) dry white wine

3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE FRIED SCAROLA / Divide the scarola into individual leaves. Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan and fry the garlic and olives for a minute, making sure the garlic does not colour. Add the scarola and sultanas and mix for 30 seconds until the leaves have softened a little. Add the wine and turn up the heat to evaporate the liquid. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and cook for 2–3 minutes. Remove the lid, add the toasted pine nuts, season with salt and pepper to taste, mix, and cook off any liquid. Remove from heat, and let the mixture cool completely before using for the fried pizze. This makes enough for 8–10 pizze.

TO ASSEMBLE / Divide the dough ball in two. Prepare the pizza discs as you would for normal pizze, but make the discs around 16–18 cm (6–7 inches) wide and don’t leave the cornice on the border (see here). As the discs are going to be folded in half, divide about a quarter of the fried scarola mixture evenly between the bottom half of each disc and spread it out to about 3 cm (1¼ inches) from the bottom and 5–6 cm (2–2½ inches) from the sides. Scatter the crabmeat on top and sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon of colatura d’alici. Fold each disc to enclose the stuffing and lightly pinch the borders to seal them. Choose a wide pot or deep-fryer to contain the stuffed pizza. Heat the oil to 175°C (350°F) at a depth of at least 4–5 cm (1½–2 inches), then place the pizze carefully in, one at a time, and fry until crisp and golden. They will need to be moved constantly and turned so that they are golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon or ‘spider’ and drain on paper towel. Serve hot.

Makes 2 fried pizze