Spinjuine – The Original Sicilian Pizza

Mention the dish Spinjuine and most Americans will give you a strange look and then ask, “What is that?” Spinjuine is a type of pizza that originated on the beautiful island of Sicily. Sicilian cooks have been making this variation of pizza for centuries. The Spinjuine pizza is unique in flavor, texture and appearance when compared to what most Americans consider traditional pizza.

The sauce that covers the Spinjuine is a spicy tomato meat sauce. This meat sauce is prepared with ground steak, sausage, onions, mozzarella and basil. The meat sauce is somewhat reminiscent of a traditional Sicilian Ragu sauce of ground beef, but tastes much better because of the choice ground steak and sausage used. The sauce is laden with the earthiness of sautéed onions, spicy tomatoes and fresh basil at its base. The elegant combination of these rich and delicate flavors gives the sauce on the Spinjuine a palate-pleasing taste, like no other pizza made in the United States.

Many Americans have a complete misunderstanding of what type of crust that should be used on many types of Sicilian pizza. When it comes to the Spinjuine it is no different. The crust is made out of a type of Italian bread dough, which gives the crust a silky soft texture instead of the more common crunchy thin crust or the chewy thick crust that is so common on pizzas in the United States.

Mozzarella and Provolone cheese are traditionally used in the Spinjuine. Mozzarella cheese is soft in texture, has a mild milky taste and is white in color. Provolone cheese is firm in texture with a rich yellow color and has a more pronounced, creamier taste then Mozzarella cheese. These cheeses are native to Italy, but are now produced in other parts of the world.

The Spinjuine pizza could only be found in Sicily until recent times. The only other known place that the Spinjuine pizza is served in the world is located in Chesterfield, Missouri in the United States of America. The owners of Caito’s Sicilian Restaurant & Pizzeria have made the Spinjuine pizza the crown jewel of their extensive Sicilian menu. One taste of this rare type of pizza and people are hooked on the Spinjuine. The meaty spicy aromatic sauce and the complex textures of the Spinjuine set it apart from what American palates are accustom to when eating Sicilian pizza.