The scacce ‘nturciuniate are a traditional dish of the south-east of Sicily, in particular of the Ragusa territory. They are part of the bigger set of scacce, which means focacce. There are three types of scacce:

1. the scacce ‘nturciuniate, which means folded focaccias, are called in this way because of the several folds made until a rectangular shape is obtained; the filling is usually made of tomato sauce, basil and caciocavallo cheese;
2. the impanate, which come in two shapes, a half-moon one and a closed pie one (this one reminds the panadas in the previous post):
   1. the half-moon shaped impanate should have veg filling only, but over time there have been some contaminations. Among the fillings I personally know there are: stir fried spinach or chards; sausage and potatoes; sausage and ricotta cheese; ricotta, favas and onions; fried eggplants, tomato sauce and caciocavallo cheese; boiled and stir fried broccoli.
   2. the pie shaped impanate are filled with lamb (with or without bones), turkey or chicken meat, seasoned with garlic, parsley and pepper. It seems to exist some fish filled impanate (fishes like smooth-hound, salted codfish or squids), but I’ve never saw and tried them.

The shell of these focaccias is made of durum wheat flour, olive oil or lard, brewer’s yeast or starter, salt and water. The impanate are sealed to the edges with a typical pinched closure which creates a sort of decorative string.

And now, at last, the recipe of the scaccia ‘nturciuniata follows.

Ingredients for 4 people

For the dough
400g – 2 + 3/4 cup durum wheat flour
1,5g –  1/3 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
20g – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
180g – 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp lukewarm water
8g – 2 tsp salt

For the filling
400g – 1 + 1/2 cup tomato puree
1 garlic clove
Olive oil
Salt
Sugar (optional)
200g – 1 + 1/2 cup aged or semi-aged caciocavallo cheese
Fresh basil

 

Instructions

For the dough: in a big bowl, mix for some minutes the flour (to aerate it) with the yeast and the sugar. Pour in the oil e rub the flour through the palms and the fingers until you obtain a sandy mixture. Add the water, mix a few instants and sprinkle in the salt. Mix well to agglomerate all the ingredients in a rough ball and transfer it on a work surface. Knead until you get a smooth consistency. If the dough should be too tough, add a few drops of water until it will be easy workable. On the contrary, you can add some other flour if the dough results too sticky.
Divide the dough into four pieces, knead each of them and form four balls. Put them in the same bowl in which you start the mixing and cover with plastic wrap, or you can use a flat airtight container. Let rise until they double in size.
If you own a stand mixer, add the ingredients in the same steps and knead until the dough embraces the hook and becomes elastic. Then divide into four pieces and continue following the steps as above.

For the filling: crush the garlic clove and cook it in a saucepan with a dash of oil until golden brown, at very low heat. Don’t let it burn. You can warm up very well the oil and then just let infuse the garlic, keeping the saucepan oblique, until it stops to bubble. Eliminate it and pour in the tomato puree, some salt and – optional – a teaspoon of sugar, if the tomato is too sour. Cook it and, eventually, adjust in salt. Let it cool.
Cut the caciocavallo cheese in strips and then in little squares.

Roll out the dough: abundantly dust with flour the worktop and roll out each ball with a rolling pin until you get very thin disks.

Turn on the oven at 220°C/430°F.

How to spread out the filling: spread some tablespoon of tomato sauce on the disks of dough, then evenly distribute a lot of basil broken with the hands and the cheese pieces. Proceed with folds and condiment as shown in the photos below:

Put the scacce on a baking tray covered with parchment paper (be careful during the passage to the tray: the thin disks soften with the tomato sauce, so they could break. You can use two spatulas or a big one). Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. They are ready when golden brown.

Take them out of the oven and let rest for at least 20 minutes. If you eat them immediately, the inside would be to the lava temperature and you wouldn’t feel the flavours with your burned tongue. So they’re best served warm.
I suggest you to prepare and cook the scacce in the morning (or the day before) and warm them up just before eating.