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So you think you know Italian pizza? Well unless you’ve tried Sicilian pizza, sfincione, you really can't claim all-rounder pizza bragging rights.
Sfincione, which hails from Sicily’s ancient capital Palermo, is a ‘poor person’s’ street food with a decadent taste.
Each slice has the height of a cake and texture of a light, chewy bread. Its toppings revolve around slow-cooked onions and instead of being finished with mozzarella, sfincione is dressed with a cheesy breadcrumb mix for extra crunch.
Baked in the oven, a slice of sfincione should be luscious and juicy while its base must be crisp – the result of a generously oiled deep pan.
Sfincione is a legendary Sicilian street food with universal appeal.
Cook and host of SBS’s Silvia Colloca, sings the praises of the Sicilian deep dish pizza – especially as it’s a traditional meal that can be eaten hot or cold and at any time of the day.
“Sfincione is a legendary Sicilian street food with universal appeal,” Colloca says, as she makes the dish in episode eight of the third series.
Get the recipe
Sfincione Siciliano (deep pan Sicilian pizza)
“The name comes from the Latin word ‘sfincia’, which is sponge. So it gives away the texture of this pizza.”
Some say that sfincione is a cross between a focaccia and Neapolitan-style pizza – the kind you find at most pizzerias throughout Australia. But ask any Sicilian and they’ll remind you that sfincione is not the lovechild of any mainland snack. Sfincione is a pizza in its own right and a culinary product that’s recognised broadly across Italy for its own unique character.
Sicilian born chef, Simone Crivello, tells SBS he grew up eating sfincione as a celebratory dish during the Christmas season. Over time however, the tradition became more flexible and the pizza was eaten more regularly as a snack.
“Sfincione is not a Neapolitan pizza but it is a pizza,” Crivello, co-owner of in Sydney tells SBS.
“People from Naples come to Palermo, just to have it. It represents Sicily and it tastes like my home.”
Let's talk toppings
So what’s on this beloved Sicilian pizza? Traditional sfincione may be finished with a crunchy breadcrumb and cheese mixture, but underneath all of that goodness are three varieties of toppings baked into the dough.
The first version is the original: sfincione Palermitano (from the Sicilian capital city, Palermo), which is made with tomato sauce, oregano, sautéed onions and cheese.
“Sfincione was first made by nuns in Palermo,” Crivello explains. “It had a simple tomato base with oregano and Pecorino cheese. But over time, the tradition grew to the countryside of Palermo.
“Soon, in Bagheria – a town located about 20 kilometres from Palermo – they started to change the way they made sfincione. Bagheria has always been famous for sheep ricotta. So the people of that town started to make a white version of the pizza, without sauce, called . They topped it with sheep ricotta, sautéed onions, anchovies, pecorino cheese and the breadcrumb mix.”
People from Naples to come to Palermo, just to have it. It represents Sicily and it tastes like my home.
The third variety, , includes a layer of salami, onions and cheese but no tomatoes. This style is named after the creators of sfincione: as the story goes, the nuns from the Palermo convent of San Vito who invented the Sicilian pizza in the seventeenth century.
There's a reverence for the history of sfincione in Sicily that encourages a strong local passion for the pizza. In fact, sfincione is so locally revered as an important part of that it’s been included in the Italian island’s list of Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT).
These days, sfincione is eaten all year round, even though the pizza remains connected to its Christmas roots.
Sfincione Bagherese by Simone Crivello of Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea. Source: Yasmin Noone
Visit Palermo today and you’ll find bakeries and vendors scattered throughout the province selling sfincione with traditional and modern toppings. “Back in Sicily now, many cooks are experimenting with new toppings from white cabbage to cauliflower.”
While there’s nothing wrong with flavour development, the 49-year-old chef says he prefers to stick to more traditional flavours.
He currently makes sfincione Bagherese and sfincione Palermitano at his Sicilian restaurant in Paddington. Every Sunday in winter, Crivello features sfincione on his menu. This season, it’s become so popular that the chef’s version of the pizza attracts local diners and sfincione fans requesting private orders.
“I want to people understand that the sfincione I am making is today is the same sfincione that people ate 100 or more years ago. My great grandmother passed [the tradition] to my father and my father passed it to me.
“So unless I continue to make sfincione now, we will lose the tradition. That’s why I keep making it – I really want to keep the tradition of Sicilian pizza alive.”
From thin and crispy to deep pan
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