Nonna Lisa’s Tiella

Name: Nonna Lisa’s Tiella
Yield: makes 1 large tiella, serving 8 or more
Ingredients: 1 package (2 teaspoons) dry yeast; 1/4 cup warm water; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for handling the dough; 1 1/2 cups semolina flour; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar; 3/4 cup cool water plus more if needed; 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl; 1 recipe Escarole, Olives, and Caper Filling or 1 recipe Octopus Filling (recipes follow); A food processor fitted with the metal blade; A heavy ovenproof skillet with rounded sides, 12 inches across the top, or a deep-dish pie pan, 12 inches or wider (or an authentic 12-inch tiella pan!); A baking stone or pizza stone, if you have one; 2 pounds or more escarole; 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic; 1/3 cup small capers, drained; 1/3 cup Gaeta olives, pitted; 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste; A heavy-bottomed, high-sided skillet or sauté pan, 12 inches in diameter or larger, with a cover; 4 pounds frozen, cleaned octopus (tentacles about 1/2 inch wide at thickest part); 2 bay leaves; 1 pound ripe plum tomatoes (4 tomatoes); 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 1/2 tablespoons sliced garlic; 2/3 cup Gaeta olives, pitted and cut in half; 1/4 teaspoon peperoncino flakes; 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley; (makes about 4 cups of filling, for a 12-inch tiella)

December 14, 2011

Driving north from Naples to Rome, you are bound to come to Gaeta, and you should make a point of sampling some tiella there. Every time I am in that vicinity, I stop by and enjoy some tiella with Nonna Lisa Corrado, my son-in-law’s maternal grandmother. According to him, she makes the best tiella in all of Italy. Tiella is made in Naples and throughout Italy, but it is a specialty in Gaeta, a beautiful seaside town on the border of Campania (Naples) and Lazio (Rome) regions. So what is tiella? It is a thin-crusted deep-dish pizza, stuffed with different combinations of vegetables and fish—escarole, broccoli rabe, octopus, olives, ricotta and Swiss chard, artichokes, and any other vegetable that is in season. It is topped and sealed with the same dough and baked until golden. Every time I stop for a piece of tiella, Nonna Lisa teaches me another filling. I take notes, and then I enjoy. I now make them at the restaurants and at home in New York, for my son-in-law. He enjoys them with a touch of nostalgia and following are two for you to enjoy.

Recipe notes