Pour the cup of water or tepid milk in a large plate. Immerse the slices of stale bread in it, until they soften
Peel and slice the onion, peel the fresh tomato and dice its pulp. Preheat the oven to about 180°. Put a drizzle of olive oil and the breadcrumbs mixed with a teaspoonful of sugar in the baking tray.
Toast well and put aside, without switching off the oven. As an alternative, you can toast the breadcrumbs in a small pan.
In the baking tray, pour a drizzle of olive oil, arrange the slices of slate bread and season them with the chopped fresh tomato, olive oil, a pinch of salt, oregano and basil. Sprinkle the toasted breadcrumbs on all the slices and put the baking tray in the oven.
Before pouring the breadcrumbs, you could also add other ingredients to the slices of bread, like anchovies, mozzarella, chopped caciocavallo, ricotta, seasoned vegetables etc. Finally, bake for about 20 minutes.
To make breadcrumbs more crunchy, put a teaspoonful of sugar on it before toasting.
In the farming culinary tradition, breadcrumb is usually defined as the “poor man’s cheese” as it is used to season a lot of dishes that would have required expensive parmesan/grana padano cheeses.
Recipe Notes
Contributor: Maria Letizia Morici
Place: Palermo, Italy
Personal Background:
She was a doctor and a professor at the university of Palermo. Her father was a baker.
Recipe’s Personal Background
How did you learn this recipe?
The father of Ms. Morici was a baker. She learned this recipe from her father, together with many other recipes connected to baking.
Is there some memory/historical event connected to this recipe?
No, there’s not historical moment. About memory event, of course, the sharing moments with her father.
Personal reference to tradition transmitted by relatives (preparing together, sharing, eating together etc.)?
No, there isn’t.
Mediterranean Background
Any tradition this receipe is connected to? If yes, which one? Can you describe it?
No, there isn’t.
The bread pizza recipe fully respects the quality parameters of the Mediterranean diet, as:
– It contains fresh ingredients and is rich of nutrients: blue fish (anchovies), cereals (bread), seasonal vegetables and herbs (tomato, basil, oregano etc.), local products (cheese, olive oil etc.).
– It contains olive oil as a fat base
– Baking keeps the flavors intact and the nutritional intake balanced.
Any Festivity this recipe is connected to? If yes, which one? Can you describe it?
_
Is your recipe connected to the territory you live in? Is it strictly linked to the specificity of the agricultural environment?
–
Season (season this food is linked to)
BREAD PIZZA can be prepared throughout the year, as it can be adapted based on the available ingredients.
Ingredient
Nutritional Importance
Health Benefits
Bread
Made up of 86% carbohydrates, 12% lipids and the other 2% of lipids.
Nutritious and easily digestible, it is the “long term fuel” base of the Mediterranean diet.
Extra virgin olive oil
Made up 99% lipids, and minimally of vitamins, antioxidants and phytosterols.
Being a source of lipids, amino acids and important triglycerides that make up the lipid bilayer membrane, olive oil has multiple and important beneficial actions (also a mild laxative property).
Salted anchovies
73% rich of proteins, 20% lipids and 7% carbohydrates.
Rich of mineral salts (among them selenium, an effective anti-oxidant, calcium, phosphorus, iron and iodine) and vitamins (mainly A and B), easy to chew and digest (so it is great for the elderly and children) it contains also a very high level of omega-3, the fatty acids polyunsaturated have a positive action on the hearth and blood circulation, lowering the level of cholesterol.
Onion
Good source of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, potassium and manganese.
It shows anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. The combination of these properties can prevent some cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
Sheep’s ricotta
Made up of 24% proteins, 66% lipids and 10% carbohydrates, great source of calcium.
It is a great source of proteins and it has a high biological value, even superior compared to those given from cheese and meat. Moreover it is easily digestible so it is suitable for children, the elderly and people who do sports.
Additional information
Is it suggested to eat this meal if you suffer from some disease? If yes, for which one?
No disease related to this dish.
What is the primary base with which your food is prepared? Is this a derivative of oil or another base?
Extra virgin olive oil.
What nutrition related illnesses or deficiencies are common in your area? Are there holistic or nutrition based remedies connected to these aliments?
