Sfincione is reportedly the original peasant sicilian pizza, although no doubt the sicilians will be upset with me for referring to it as a pizza, which it resembles, but it is not. The dramatic flavour of this dish is entirely due to the marinated tomatoes and fresh bread, please resist the temptation to add more toppings and make it into a pizza, it does not need it. Preserve this wonderful dish as a Sfincione. And thank you Sicily for such a wonderful dish.

Slice up 1lb of ripe roma tomatoes into quarter inch thick chunks. Place them in a dish and sprnkle 1/2 teaspoon salt, then drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over them. Crush 4 cloves garlic over them. Then slice up a small onion and place over. Cover it up and let it stand for at least an hour in the kitchen, 4 hours is better. This marinade process is vital to the flavour. You can sprinkle some basil on as well if you wish.

Take 300 grammes of bread flour (that's 2 coffee cups) and sift it into a bowl. Add a shake of salt, and a teaspoon of dried yeast. Make a well in the centre of the flour and crack in an egg and start to mix in, add 150 ml of skim milk (that 2/3rds coffee cup) gradually. Tip it out of the bowl onto a floured board and thump it around (knead) for five minutes, washing your hands in more flour as needed to stop it from being sticky.

Let the dough stand in a covered bowl for 20 to 60 minutes (dependant on room temperature) to rise. You will need a support rack in the top of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Knock the dough down and form it into a flat piece to fit your backing tray, I slap it between my hands. I use a round tray 13 inches in diameter oiled with olive oil, and slap the dough quite thin. You can adjust yours accordingly. The dough will puff up, I like it that way, you could add more salt which will inhibit the yeast activity, or prick the dough, to have more even base.

I let it stand for five minutes, covered. Now put the marinated tomato slices on top on the dough, leaving a lot of the juice behind. Sprinkle with Oregano, (or Basil) and add a few olives if you wish, and top off with some grated Parmesan cheese, I use about 100 grammes, because I like it, you can use less if you wish.

Put it in the top part of the oven at 375 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes (that's 25 to 35 depending on how brown / crispy you like it)

We find that the quantities above is plenty for the two of us as a main meal, you can double the recipe easily.