Stromboli (Scaccia Ragusana-Style)
Total Time
3 to 3 1/2 hours
Rating
0 out of 5 stars
(0)
Ingredients
8 servings
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons or 165 ml) lukewarm water
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup (115 grams) semolina flour
- 1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- A few sprigs of fresh basil
- 2 ounces finely grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
- 6 ounces coarsely grated provolone or caciocavallo cheese
- 2 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- About 3 1/2 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni (optional)
- A few slivered leaves of fresh basil (optional)
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Preparation
Chef’s notes
Can’t decide whether you want to make a stromboli or babka shape? Don’t and make both. There are 8 servings in each, and I’d expect hungry adults to want to eat 2.
About the flours:
A persnickety thing here is this, and all scaccias, call for hard durum wheat flour, which is readily sold here as semolina flour. (It’s also used in pasta.) I find it easily from Bob’s Red Mill at any store that has a display or section, and use it for only a portion of the flour here; I suspect you’ll be just fine without it. But if you can get it, or have any interest in pasta making, it’s absolutely worth it because it gives the loaf a great crunchy edge and a sturdiness to hold up to the filings.
About the cheese:
The traditional cheese for a scaccia is caciocavallo (the Saveur recipes suggest pecorino romano as a swap but you should not do this; 12 ounces yields a tongue-singeing saltiness). I sought some out, because I’m spoiled to not live far from Murray’s Cheese, and was delighted to find that it comes in a gourd shape and tastes, forgive me, it’s not an exact match, I know, like a slightly aged provolone, far more easily to find around here. For my pizza-like version here, I use a little bit of pecorino for salt and bite, a lot of provolone and a small amount of mozzarella for that recognizable stretch, but not so much that it will sog the layers.
About the sauce:
This recipe will yield about 3 cups of sauce; you’ll probably only need 2. Put the rest in a jar and be so happy that you have really great homemade tomato sauce around for a week or so. It’s a great core recipe for sauce.
Picture note:
The packet version you see in my photos is scaled back from the recipe you see here, because I was retesting and didn’t need a full one. The full one can be cut into 8 squares.