Specially made to serve as the base for Pan-fried Sicilian Pizza, a Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) regional specialty, this dough recipe makes enough for two large pizzas — or ”trays” in the local vernacular. This is a same-day dough with about seven hours of fermentation time, but it’s a good idea to get started in the morning if you plan to cook in the evening.

Formulated by Jim Mirabelli, the owner and chief pizza officer at NEPA Pizza Review, this dough mimics the many pan-fried Sicilians he’s had in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of this particular pizza style. Jim’s recipe calls for a few rounds of dimpling the dough with olive-oiled hands, followed by resting it in a pan coated with peanut oil. Don’t skimp on those steps — they make the dough airy, extremely crisp and chewy in the center.

Jim’s recipe calls for General Mills Full Strength Flour, a bread flour (12.6% protein content) that comes in 50-pound bags, typically used in professional settings and pizzerias that make this regional style, but you can use King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7%), Ceresota (12%) or another bread flour with a comparable protein content (11 to 13%) for similar results. 

This recipe appears in A Love Letter to Northeastern Pennsylvania-style Pizza by Jim Mirabelli and Pan-fried Sicilian Pizza