Giorgio Locatelli - Made in Sicily

The Sicilian black olives we use in the kitchen are mature nocellara and cerasuolo. These are the olives that are picked green and pressed to make our oil, but sometimes if a tree bears only a little fruit, the olives are left on the branches to ripen until they become ‘black’.

When you are making the pizza dough, the order in which you mix the ingredients makes a difference. It is best to dissolve the yeast in water and mix it into the flour before adding the salt, as the salt burns the yeast and makes it less effective. Once you have added the salt, the small quantity of sugar helps the fermentation. The oil is added last, as if you put it in at the beginning of mixing it acts like a skin, stopping the salt and yeast penetrating properly.

There are three stages that help get a great, crispy base to a pizza. First, rest the dough in the fridge but bring it to room temperature for three hours before shaping it. This is the system we have developed, because we are a restaurant not a bakery, so we have no proving room. If you can, rest it for twenty-four hours, as the longer it has to relax the more stretchy and pliable it will be, which makes it easier to get a good, thin base. Next, don’t overload the topping, as this will stop the base from crisping quickly; and finally, try to recreate the atmosphere of a dedicated pizza oven, in which the temperature is 260°C/500°F. The pizzas go straight on to the hot brick base and hot air cooks the topping at the same time. At home, have the oven at its highest temperature – usually 250°C/475°F/gas 9 – then put as many terracotta pizza bases, or upturned baking trays, as you can fit into the oven so that they get really hot, before carefully sliding a pizza on to each one. If you are making six pizzas, you will surely still have to bake them in batches, but as each one only takes ten minutes, no one will have to wait too long! Remember that leaving the door open lowers the temperature. In with the pizzas, as fast as you can, then shut the door.

Makes 6 pizzas (25–30cm)

7g fresh yeast

550g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for the bowl and rolling out

15g sea salt

6g sugar

60ml milk

30ml olive oil

For the topping:

24 good whole purple-black olives in brine

18 anchovies, either salted or in oil

2 tablespoons tomato sauce

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

100g tuma (Sicilian unsalted sheep’s milk cheese) or pecorino, grated

1 teaspoon dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in 300ml of water in a small bowl. Put the flour into a large bowl and mix in the yeast mixture. Add the salt and sugar, then the milk, little by little, followed by the oil, until all the ingredients are incorporated in a dough – this will take about 10 minutes. Scrape the dough into a floured bowl and fold it in on itself a few times. Cut it into 6 equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Put the balls of dough on a tray, cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 24 hours.

Bring the dough out of the fridge and into room temperature 3 hours before you want to use it.

When ready to make the bases, preheat the oven to 250°C/475°F/gas 9, or as high as possible, and put in one or two terracotta bases or upturned baking trays (or however many you can fit in your oven).

Lightly flour a work surface, then, using your fingertips, press each ball of dough lightly into a thin round, about 25–30cm. You want the base to be about 3mm thick, but with a slightly thicker rim. If the dough feels too hard to shape easily, leave it to rest for 5 minutes and then come back to it.

Drain the olives and pat dry. With a sharp knife, make three or four cuts in each olive from end to end, and then cut each segment away from the stone as carefully as you can and roughly chop.

If using salted anchovies, rinse and dry them. Run your thumb gently along the backbone to release it, then you should be able to easily pull it out. If using anchovies in oil, drain them.

Chop the anchovies roughly and put some of the pieces on to each round of dough, pressing them in so they don’t get burned and bitter by being on top of the pizza. Spread some tomato sauce over each anchovy-studded base, then scatter with onion, cheese, olives and oregano, season with pepper and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Slide the first pizza(s) on to the preheated base(s), and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is golden and crunchy underneath. Repeat until all the pizzas are baked.

Pizza arrotolata

Rolled pizza with sausage

These rolled pizzas are made with the same dough as in the previous recipe, but rather than being floured, it is oiled at various stages, to keep it pliable enough to roll. Traditionally, the filling would be made with strutto, pure pork fat, but you can substitute olive oil.

Makes 4 rolls

7g fresh yeast

550g ‘00’ flour

15g salt

1 teaspoon sugar

60ml milk

30ml vegetable oil, plus more for oiling

For the filling:

4 tablespoons melted strutto or olive oil

450g fresh sausage meat, crumbled

6 tablespoons chopped pancetta

2 medium onions, chopped

120g pecorino cheese, grated

freshly ground black pepper

Dissolve the yeast in 300ml of water in a small bowl. Put the flour into a large bowl and mix in the yeast mixture. Add the salt and sugar, then the milk, little by little, followed by the oil, until all the ingredients are incorporated in a dough – this will take about 10 minutes. Scrape the dough into a bowl that has been lightly oiled with vegetable oil, and fold it in on itself a few times. Cut it into 4 equal pieces, shape each one into a rough square shape and rub with a little more oil. Put the squares of dough on a tray, cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 24 hours. Bring the dough out of the fridge and into room temperature 3 hours before you want to use it.

When ready to make the pizzas, preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7 and put in one or two baking trays to get hot. Lightly oil a sheet of baking parchment and roll out the dough into squares measuring roughly 25–30cm, and 3mm thick. If it feels too hard, leave it to rest for 5 minutes.

Spread each square of rolled-out dough with 1 tablespoon of melted strutto, or olive oil. Scatter the sausage meat and pancetta over the top, followed by the onions and cheese, season well with black pepper, then roll up and place on the baking tray/trays. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–30 minutes, or until golden. Cut each roll into thick slices and serve.

Torta di sambuco

Meat pie with elderflower

This is another unusual ‘pie’ which is made in the spring, when the elderflowers are blossoming, and which is cut up and served with the antipasti. Guanciale is a bacon made from pork jowl, cured in wine, herbs and black pepper. If you can’t find it, use some good lardons or cubed pancetta.

Serves 6

For the dough:

30g fresh yeast

500g semolina flour, plus more as needed

500g ‘00’ flour

1 teaspoon sugar

20g sea salt

80ml olive oil

1 egg, beaten, for brushing

For the filling:

4 tablespoons olive oil

300g guanciale, chopped

400g rustic salame, roughly chopped

300g tuma (Sicilian unsalted sheep’s milk cheese) or pecorino, chopped

50g elderflowers, chopped

Mix the yeast with 400ml of water. In a food mixer with a dough hook, mix the flours and sugar, add the yeast and water, and mix. Add the salt and when it is incorporated, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Mix until soft and elastic, then emulsify the rest of the olive oil with another 50ml of water and add it to the dough a little at a time, with the motor turning, until the dough is soft. Turn out into a bowl and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.