OREGANO PIZZA

(Rianata)

Makes two 30 cm/12 inch pizzas

⅔ recipe pane rimacinato dough, about 900 g/2 lb

1 large red onion, cut in very thin slices

4 large ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and chopped

225 g/8 oz fresh caciocavallo, primosale, or mozzarella cheese, diced

10 anchovy fillets, cut in small pieces (optional)

125 g/4 fl oz olive oil

4 tablespoons dried oregano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oil two 30 cm/12 inch or 33 cm/13 inch pizza pans. Divide the dough in half, and spread one-half out over each of the pans, stretching it with your fingers.

Cover the dough with a layer of onion slices, then sprinkle with the tomatoes, cheese, anchovies, olive oil, and oregano, in that order. Top with a pinch of salt and a little black pepper. Bake in a 230C/450F/gas mark 8 oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

Palermo seems never to have developed as many ways of using bread dough, probably because the municipal monopoly on baking meant that for several centuries it was illegal to bake bread at home. It does have, however, something called sfincione, a springy, rather oily sort of pizza made with soft-wheat flour, which is baked in large rectangular pans and cut in squares.