Komiška Pogača (Croatian Filled Bread)

Step 1

Put flour, water, yeast, and salt into a large bowl. Mix all the ingredients until combined.

Step 2

Add a good drizzle of olive oil to the mixture and mix everything.

Step 3

Keep mixing and then kneading until you get a firm dough. (Alternately, this can be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook.)

Step 4

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead for a couple of more minutes, until very smooth.

Step 5

Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for at least an hour.

Step 6

Clean the anchovies (remove any bones) and dice the onions.

Step 7

Add a little olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium.

Step 8

Sauté the onion in the olive oil for a couple of minutes and then add the tomato juice* and a pinch of salt and pepper (to taste).

Step 9

Let everything cook for around 10 minutes.

Step 10

Grease a high sided, 33x23cm baking dish (9x13 inches).

Step 11

Divide the rested dough into 2 balls, one slightly bigger and the other slightly smaller.

Step 12

Roll out the bigger dough thinly (about 5 mm (slightly over 1/8")) and fit it in the prepared baking dish, letting any extra hang over the sides.

Step 13

Put the prepared tomato sauce with onions on the dough.

Step 14

Place the anchovies and olive pieces over the sauce.

Step 15

Drizzle some olive oil over top of the filling. Then, sprinkle the oregano and some fresh parsley and pepper.

Step 16

Roll out the smaller dough thinly as well (about 5 mm (slightly over 1/8")) and place it over the filling.

Step 17

Pull the edges of the bottom dough up over the sides of the top dough and press well on the edges to seal the filling inside.

Step 18

Prick the top dough with a fork and let everything rest for around 15 minutes.

Step 19

Preheat your oven to 200C (392F).

Step 20

Brush the top dough with more olive oil.

Step 21

Bake the pogača for 35 minutes, until golden.

Step 22

Once it is baked, remove it from the oven and cover it with cloth for 15 minutes.

Step 23

Then, cut it into squares and serve with with red wine.