"FREE RECIPE"
"SCACCIA"
(ska - cha)
Award Winning Recipe
Published in the "The Great Canadian Feast"
Pages 30-31
along with recipes by Celebrity Chefs
Christine Cushing and Rob Feenie
Scaccia (Italian Turnovers)
These turnovers can be made to order to suit the tastes of everyone in your household. Feel free to be inventive with these savoury pastries. Use any combination of favourite items for fillings which should be fully cooked and cooled before they are stuffed into the dough.
Tomato & Cheese filling:
3 Tbsp Olive oil
2 large Onions, sliced
1 large Can crushed tomatoes, with juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 Tbsp, fresh chopped parsley
Preparing the filling:
In a large pot, heat the oil and saute the onions for about 2 - 3 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes and juice, the salt and pepper, and the parsley. Cook until you get a nice mixture of onions and sauce, and the onions are really soft. About 15 minutes. Remove from pot to a bowl and let cool completely. Set aside.
Dough:
2 pkgs. Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 1/2 cups Warm Water
6 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups lard or shortening, cold, cubed
Egg wash ( 1 egg beaten with 2 Tbsp. of cold water)
1 full glass of hot water with salt on the bottom.
Preparing Dough:
In a small dish, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water, and let stand until foaming (about 10 minutes). In a bowl or on a flat surface combine flour and salt. Add the shortening and with either a pastry cutter or your hands work the shortening into the flour so that it becomes crumbly. Make a well in the center and add your yeast. Starting from the inside, start working in your flour mixture. Use the hot water with salt to combine your flour into a big soft ball.
Set the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Heat your oven to 350 degrees and then turn off the stove. Let the heat settle a bit, then put your bowl of dough into the oven and let the dough rise for a good 1 hour and 1/2.
Remove the dough and knead it on a flat surface, using flour to get rid of stickiness. Set dough back in the bowl. Take a knife and cut a good chunk of it and start rolling it out into a circle. Don't make it too thin. Now take your filling and add some to the center, and spread it out evenly making sure it doesn't come off the sides. Now sprinkle with Cheese a bit or salt and pepper to taste, if you'd like you can add sliced potatoes to this. Sprinkle with some oil before sealing.
Now take the far end of the dough and fold it to the middle. Then take the end in front of you and fold it to the middle. Now take either end and fold it over once again. Now press the ends, then fold ends or curl them seal. Repeat steps for each round.
On cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil, and sprayed with Pam or cooking spray, set your turnover on the sheet. Preheat your oven to 350*, and once you have about 4 turnovers on your cookie sheet, brush them with the egg wash, and then put them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool to room temperature.
