Stuffed Pizza, or more specifically Sfinciunu di San Vitu (Sfincione di San Vito)..a specialty from the
sunny Island of Sicily which is eaten to celebrate St.Vito’s Day, June 15. Actually the St.Vito piece of
this food puzzle comes from where the savory pie was first made, at a Convent of San Vito in Sicily.
The nuns did some job in putting together some of Sicily’s favorite ingredients. A Sfincione is a
Sicilian word denoting their regional pizza..a spongy doughed rectangular pie topped with a slow
and sweet cooked tomato sauce, anchovies, sauteed onions, caciocavallo, black pepper, olive oil
and bread crumbs. This morphed in America to our Sicilian thick crust pie. A St.Vito Sfincione is
a calzone or a two layered crust covered pizza, differing from the other Sfincione. Confused? You
should be. No matter…follow me on this St.Vito’s Pizza journey. Let’s go to the namesake. St. Vito
himself. One of those early Saints of the Christian period who are part of various legends, in
addition to Central Europe, St. Vito became a popular saint throughout Italy, especially down south
and in Sicily where there is a huge following. One of the prettiest towns in all of Sicily to the west of
Palermo is the beach resort of San Vito lo Capo (Cape of St.Vitus) where there is a huge cous cous
festival held every year. Interestingly enough, this Pizza is more associated with New Year’s Eve than with the actual feast day of S.Vito. I like to highlight though for this June 15 feast day.
This is my personal card of St.Vito which I got in the old San Vito Club in NYC.. My first introduction to St.Vito was when I was a kid and
exploring the old sections of Little Italy in NYC which then extended above Elizabeth St and below
Mulberry St. In fact, the section of Little Italy now known as NoLita was once the first home in America
for thousands and thousands of Sicilian immigrants, Elizabeth Street. Each group of people (paesani)
from a particular town would inhabit one or two adjacent tenanments and would provide a safe place for
new immigrants from that town to stay in upon arrival in the New Country. My grandparents, both from the
town of Sciacca in Sicily lived in opposite buildings, all with other paisani from their town. At one end
by the former Old Church of Our Lady of Loreto a group from the Sicilian town of Cimina settled and in
Our Lady of Loreto was a shrine to St.Vito. Every town had a Society on that street, and one of them was
the Mutual Aid Society of St.Vito for the people of Cimina. All gone now.
So there’s a little history of St.Vito to get you in the mood to cook a pizza named after him. This stuffed
gem is loaded with flavors and fun to make and eat. It would be a great party food, or a full entree,
served with a salad. This recipe will make one Sfinciuni (say it, you’ll feel Sicilian!). Start with the dough.
Don’t be afraid, it sounds scary to make your own dough, but it’s not only tastier and healthier, but it’s
theraputic. 8-10 minutes of kneading is a great stress reducer! In a bowl, add 1 cup of warm water. To
that add 1 tsp. sugar, 3/4 tsp. salt and 1 packet of dry yeast. Mix. Let this sit for up to 15 minutes. The top
will be frothy..IT’S ALIVE! Add 1 cup of sifted bread flour and blend in well with a wooden spoon. Now add
an additional cup. Keep stirring, it should be getting more difficult to stir and the dough will be moving from
the sides of the bowl. It will still be somewhat sticky. Slowly add an additional cup of flour now mixing with
your hands. This should give you an elastic, smooth ball of dough. If it is still sticky sprinkle a little more
flour on. Turn this out onto a floured board and knead for 8-10 minutes. Rub olive oil over it and place it
in the bowl, kitchen towel over the top and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours.
On to the filling…you’ll love this. Saute’ 1 lb. of loose sausage meat in a little olive oil still just cooked, about
10 minutes. Remove from the pan. While the sausage is cooking, slice 1 large onion and dice one medium
sized potato. Now add the potato to the pan with a little more olive oil, some salt and pepper and fry the
potatoes for about 10 minutes, till done. Add to the sausage. In the same pan fry the onions for 10 minutes
till soft and sweet, then add 1 sliced clove of garlic and when fragrant add 1 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 anchovy filet
and cook for 2 minutes. Now add 1 14 oz Can of Imported Italian Cherry Tomatoes (my new favorite in-
gredient). add some salt and pepper, and stir.
Add all of the sausage and potato to the tomato and onion and cook it on medium-low for 25 minutes. Some versions, and there are many of this, will include 1/2 tsp of ground Cinnamon. That’s up to you.
Now add 1 cup of coarsely chopped black olives, then a sprinkle of oregano and 3 torn basil leaves.
Cook for additional 5 minutes. Turn off the flame and add 1/8 cup grated pecorino, and 1/4 cup diced
caciocavallo. Leave it to sit for about 10 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 450 now.
So from friend Michael Gottuso who used my recipe when I originally posted this a few years ago, this is his picture of the filling after it was completed:
Time to stuff! Pat down the dough and turn it out onto a board or stone counter. With your hands press
it out into a circular shape about 3/16 of an inch (get our your kitchen ruler..lol) and let it rest for about
5 minutes.
Add the filling to the center of the dough and smooth it out so it’s all the same thickness. Gently
pick up one side of the dough and fold it over the filling..gently gently so you don’t tear the dough.
If you do you can always patch it up. Roll of the edges and tightly crimp them in a semi-circle where you
overlapped the dough. This will form a crust.
Dust the top of the Sfinciunu with black pepper
and bake for 16-20 minutes, or till golden brown on top and bottom. When done, tap on the top and
it should be firm and sound hollow.
Let this rest for 10 minutes before you cut into it, it lets all the juices go back into the filling. Cut and
serve, feeds 4-5. A very Sicilian combo here…serve it with a Sicilian red or white…a side of broccoli rabe or a salad.
Let me confuse you even further..as with many recipes centuries old there are many versions. One presses the dough into a round pan and it resembles a Chicago style DeepDish Pizza.. The top crust is covered with tomato sauce. My preference is the calzone style. You make it as you like.
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Happy Sfinciunu i San Vitu making! Enjoy your St.Vito’s Pizza.
A FOOD OBSESSION 