Sfincione siciliano

Ingredients

3/4 pound fresh sardines (or anchovies), cleaned and gutted with, heads, tails and backbone removed
Sea salt for dredging
1 pound plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/ 2 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 medium onion, chopped
1/ 2 pound young mild Caciocavallo or Provolone cheese, diced or sliced

Directions
1.To make the pizza dough.
2. Wash the sardines and roll them in the sea salt. Cut up the tomatoes and let them drain for about 1 hour.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 cup olive oil over medium heat, then cook the onion until translucent, about 6 minutes, stirring. Reduce the heat to low, add the tomatoes, and cook until denser, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add half the sardines to the tomatoes and cook 10 minutes (1 minute if you are ignoring my advice and using canned sardines). Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Divide the pizza dough into quarters if you are making 4 pizzas. Roll out the dough and lay it in a lightly oiled pizza pan, flattening the dough with your hands to cover the whole area. The dough should be 1/8 inch thick. Make sure the sides are not too thin or they will brown too fast. Using half the tomato sauce and all the cheese, cover each pizza and bake 20 minutes.
6. Add the rest of the sauce and place the remaining sardines on top in a spoke-like fashion. Bake for 10 minutes. (If using canned sardines add them for only the last minute of baking.) Serve immediately. Makes one to two large pizzas or four 9-inch pizzas.