This time 9 years in the past, we had simply arrived in Sicily. It was the start of our second lengthy summer season keep in my associate’s grandparents’ home in Gela, a metropolis on the south coast. The earlier 12 months had been the primary time in a few years that the home had been opened up and (due to the sensible abilities of one other cousin) made snug and just about absolutely purposeful. Not purposeful sufficient, although, to deal with being closed up for one more eight months, so once we arrived in 2016 the oven, fridge and washer all had issues getting going. A lot in order that we changed two of them, however determined to do all we might for the cooker. Additionally, as a result of it actually was and is an extension of my associate’s grandmother Sara, who (I’ve been informed) would have hated me turning her right into a caricature.
We known as a person who gave the Nineteen Seventies cooker a radical service and, after changing the gasoline tubes and valves, gave it the all-clear, whereas making it plain that this was virtually actually a final reprieve. He left saying that whereas we should always benefit from it, we shouldn’t make too many calls for of it. Being June, and in a small home in the midst of an industrial metropolis, demanding issues from a gasoline ring, by no means thoughts an oven, was not a precedence. So we used the oven solely sometimes, and once we did solely very early within the day, to make varied issues, together with a number of recipes for this column and the primary incarnation of this week’s recipe, le scacce ragusane.
Typical of Ragusa, which is about 70km from Gela, scacce means squashed, and refers back to the manner the dough is wrapped and squashed round a wealthy filling of tomato, onion and cheese. The normal cheese is ragusano, a agency cow’s milk cheese (a part of the pasta filata stretched-curd cheese household) made within the provinces of Ragusa and Syracuse, and simply as efficient and engaging as cheddar, scamorza and provola. There’s additionally no motive you couldn’t add a number of anchovies to the tomato combine, too.
In a lot the identical manner as a pop tart, the filling shall be molten scorching for fairly a while, so depart them to chill a bit earlier than biting into them, or depart to chill fully earlier than stacking and wrapping up in a clear tea towel to tackle a picnic. When they’re unpacked, they are often eaten complete, Cornish pasty-style, or reduce into thick slices.
Folded flatbreads with tomato, onion and cheese (scacce)
Makes 4
10g dried yeast, or 20g recent yeast
50ml tepid milk
1 pinch sugar
500g durum wheat or plain flour
Olive oil
Salt
400g ripe tomatoes
2 massive onions, peeled and sliced
1 pinch dried oregano
200g ragusano, or cheddar, grated or reduce into small cubes
Begin on the dough by mixing the yeast with the milk and a pinch of sugar, then depart it to get up for 10 minutes. Add the flour, 220ml water, two tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt, and convey every little thing collectively right into a comfortable dough. Knead, then cowl and depart to relaxation for 2 hours, or till doubled in measurement.
Peel the tomatoes by plunging them first into boiling water for 2 minutes after which into chilly water, so the skins draw back simply. Quarter the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and reduce the flesh into slender arcs.
In a pan on a low warmth, soften the onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt, then add the tomatoes and oregano, and cook dinner for about quarter-hour, till the combination is wealthy and thick.
Minimize the dough into 4 equal items, then, engaged on a flippantly oiled floor, roll and press every quarter right into a roughly 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Unfold a number of the tomato combine within the centre of every piece and depart clear a border throughout the sting – 5cm on the lengthy sides and 2cm on the high and backside. Sprinkle over 1 / 4 of the cheese, then convey within the lengthy sides to cowl the filling. Fold in half like a ebook, then pinch the highest and backside edges like a pop tart.
Raise on to a baking tray, brush with oil and bake at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gasoline 6 for 40 minutes, till golden. Go away to chill earlier than wrapping.