By Mandy Wolf Detwiler, Managing Editor
Photos by Josh Keown

Today’s pizzeria customers are savvier than ever thanks in part to a growing trend in upscale options. Sure, pepperoni and cheese are still king in this industry, but customers looking for fresh, organic and locally grown toppings now have more choices than ever. Add in the rise of Neapolitan and artisan focuses, and the pizza scene has grown into a competitive landscape. We talked to 10 pizzeria operators across the country to find out the hottest new toppings for 2013 –– and how to use them.


Ingredient: Quail eggs
Pairs with: crispy soppressata, roasted potatoes, arugula

“They are perfect for Neapolitan pizza ovens because you can crack them on the pizza going in and they cook to a perfect over easy in 75 seconds.”

-Jay Jerrier, owner of Cane Rosso in Deep Ellum, Texas


Ingredient: Sweet Piquanté Peppers
Pairs with: goat cheese, pancetta, escarole, mozzarella

“The flavor and usage of peppadews is like no other topping. They are sweet, spicy, sour and tart. These peppers can pair with almost anything and can be applied fresh, whole, halved, stuffed, quartered, sautéed and come in different colors. It’s one of the most flavorful universal toppings I have ever used.”

- Tony Gemignani, owner of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, California, and Pizza Rock in Sacramento, California


Ingredient: Kimchi
Pairs with: provolone, onions, peppers, teriyaki, cashews, chicken, sausage

“We have captured the Asian market in this college town with this ingredient. It’s also funny to see some of the country folk around here order ‘that Kill-chee...Mim-chee...dag gum...just put some of dat spicy Chinese stuff on my pizza!’ ” Har har … it’s Korean!”

- John Gutekanst, owner of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio


Ingredient: Hot soppressata
Pairs with: Grana Padano cheese, cherry tomatoes

“It’s the new upscale pepperoni. It has a little bit of kick to it and it offsets the freshness of the cherry tomatoes. The customers have really been taken aback by it and just love it.”

- Chris Lombardi, partner at New Jersey-based Tommy’s Coal Fired Pizza & Bar


Ingredient: fried chicken livers
Pairs with: super thin sliced lemon, Calabrian chili, olive oil, garlic & mozzarella

“Chicken livers have always been a favorite for me –– along with pizza. I love the texture and the mineral-ity of livers. We use livers from Plum Creek Farm in Burchard, Nebraska. The chickens are free range, antibiotic free, all natural, etc., which makes for super delicious livers!”

- Nick Stawhecker, chef/owner of Dante Ristorante Pizzeria in Omaha, Nebraska


Ingredient: roast pumpkin
Pairs with: salty ingredients, especially prosciutto, feta cheese or spicy sausage

“Our two most popular pizzas both contain roast pumpkin. ... We have a vegetarian pizza, which we use roast pumpkin, roasted garlic, spinach, feta zucchini and roasted bell pepper. The combination of flavors is perfect and people love it. It also looks amazing with the array of colors.”

- Adam Borich, owner of Lucifer’s Pizza in Los Angeles, California


Ingredient: Pistachio cream; walnut & pine nut cream
Pairs with: Pistachios go well with sweet Italian sausage & fresh mozzarella, while walnut and pine nut cream pairs well with coal-roasted zucchini and bufala mozzarella

“These flavors are one of our most popular new additions to our menu. They are delicate, yet flavorful. (They are) versatile and are not limited to traditional uses. Nuts make an exceptional and unexpected base for pizzas!”

-Mark Dym, owner of Marco’s Coal Fired Pizza in Denver, Colorado


Ingredient: smoked duck breast
Pairs with: gorgonzola, figs, walnuts, pistachios, red onion and pear

“We have a little smoker to house-smoke the duck breast in the wood oven. We then slice it paper thin.”

- Dave Brackett, owner of Pizzeria Rustica in Colorado Springs, Colorado


Ingredient: Conciato Romano
Pairs with: sugna, crushed black pepper, fresh basil, fresh oregano, extra virgin olive oil and fresh figs

“I was introduced to this cheese by the Lombardi family of the Agriturismo Le Campestre in Castel di Sasso, Italy. The cheese itself is considered one of the oldest cheeses in Europe dating 2,000 years to the time of the Roman Legions. It’s an aged sheep’s milk pecorino (six months to two years), and the pie itself (the Schiacciatta di Cinque Cento) is the creation of Franco Pepe of the pizzeria Pepe in Grani in Caiazzo, Italy. I love this cheese because it honors tradition and the artisinal process.”

- Jonathan Goldsmith, owner of Spacca Napoli Pizzeria in Chicago, Illinois


Ingredient: D’Anjou Pears >>>>
Pairs with: French brie, arugula, prosciutto, apricot-chili drizzle

“After 22 years in business we have a new No. 1 selling pizza: pear and Brie. Times have changed since the days of pepperoni and mushroom!”

- Peter Danis, owner of Figlio Wood Fired Pizza in Columbus, Ohio

Story by Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman Photo by Josh Keown

Let’s face it: When it comes to pizza, pigs are popular. “There’s nothing better than a little pork on your pizza. It’s a great ‘go-to’ meat if you want to add a little protein,” says Walter Pisano, executive chef at Tulio Restaurant in Seattle, Washington.
While pepperoni and sausage will always remain top sellers, operators have a wide variety of gourmet Italian meats to beef up their menus. Serving capocollo will differentiate your operation from the competition. Similar to ham and prosciutto, capocollo is a traditional dry-cured Italian salami made from pork shoulder or neck. (Ham and prosciutto are derived from different pig parts.) To prepare, capocollo is seasoned, soaked in brine and then salted and stuffed into a casing, where it is hung up to cure. It is usually sliced thin and used as a pizza topping or in sandwiches such as muffulettas and panini. Capocollo comes in hot and sweet versions and is beloved for its distinct flavor and tender, fatty texture.

The decision to add capocollo to Tulio’s pizzas came easy to Pisano. “I loved it growing up; it’s my favorite Italian meat –– especially the spicy one –– and I knew put­ting it on a pizza was an easy way to incorporate it into my menu,” he says.
Pisano’s favorite capocollo usage is paired with agro dolce (sweet and sour) onions, Bel Paese cheese and black pepper. In addition, he has baked up pizzas with capocollo, balsamic braised radicchio and fontina; and capocollo, asparagus and buffalo mozzarella. He’s even grilled pizza topped with capocollo, melon, Parmesan, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

He says the food cost ranges anywhere from $9.24 to $15 per pound, which is not much different than the cost for ham or prosciutto. “The nice thing is that a little goes a long way,” says Pisano. “Flavor wise, it’s a fattier meat, so there’s a great taste in every bite. Plus the texture is different than a pepperoni or sausage and that adds to the flavor and quality of the pizza too.”

Paul Hamilton, proprietor of PW Pizza in St. Louis, Missouri, also choose capocollo for its rich flavor and high-quality reputation. He places locally produced Volpi capocollo on the Yo Pauly pizza, which is topped with red sauce, hard salami, capocollo, sun­dried tomatoes, pepperoncini, roasted garlic and mozzarella. Capocollo is also included as a “Build Your Own” pizza ingredient and placed in the hot Italian sandwich.

Hamilton finds the cost of capo­collo slightly less than prosciutto and significantly more than ham (which they do not offer). The “Yo Pauly” has a 32-percent food cost, which is the highest cost pizza sold. Hamilton says it’s worth it. “We keep a very careful eye on portion control,” he says.
The only downside, Hamilton be­lieves, is that capocollo can be oily. “We make sure that the guest knows this ahead of time,” he says. “In the end, it really enhances pizza with its robust spicy flavor.”

Capocollo also fits well on the menu at ESTATE in Sonoma, Cali­fornia. “First, it is housemade and represents our goal to be involved with production of as many ingredients as possible. Two, it is delicious. Three, its versatility makes it a rare ingredient that can be used in so many fashions or simply on its own,” explains John Toulze, managing partner/executive chef.

Toulze’s favorite capocollo pizza pair­ings includes a simple Quattro froma­gio pizza with roasted pears where he places thinly sliced capocollo on the pizza immediately after baking. The other is a red sauce-based pizza with chiles, broccoli rabe and capocollo that is cooked with the other toppings.

“On the first pizza the capocollo provides a fatty and salty back drop to the rich cheeses and sweet pears. It helps round out the flavors and takes the pears towards a more savory
application,” he says. “On the second pizza it actually crisps up and some of the fat will leach out. So it provides both texture and seasoning along with an amazing aroma.

Toulze estimates his capocollo costs about $7 per pound. “Because the capocollo cut we use comes from the shoulder of the animal it is very cost effective item. For housemade salumi it is one of the easier recipes to pro­duce and master,” he says. “It’s just an amazing ingredient that is simple and complex at the same time.”

His customers agree. In February, Touzle went through almost 55 pounds of it.

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a free­lance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

YO PAULY

Yield: one 12-inch pizza
12-inch hand tossed dough
4 ounces tomato sauce
½ Tablespoon Romano cheese
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
2 ½ ounces capocollo, sliced
2 ounces hard salami, sliced
1½ ounces sundried tomatoes (rinse with water, drain, then lightly soak with olive oil and julienne)
1½ ounces pepperoncini, sliced
1½ ounces garlic (roasted with extra virgin olive oil for 45 minutes in a 550 F oven)
Lay sauce on top of dough. Layer
in order Romano, mozzarella,
capocollo, salami, sundried tomato, pepperoncini and garlic and bake.
Baste pizza crust with extra virgin
olive oil that cooked with garlic
and serve.

By Pasquale "Pat" Bruno
Photo by Josh Keown

Meatballs, which have been around for hundreds of years and were once considered peasant goods, have gone mainstream. In fact, one Chicago restaurateur has opened a restaurant called “The Ball Room.” Yes, meatballs of various style (and shape) served every which way are the mainstays of the menu.

Let me put it this way: who doesn’t like a meatball? And this way: who doesn’t like pizza? Ah, the light bulb just went on. Meatball pizza.

Of course there are many suppliers jumping to sell you ready-made meatballs, so you should sample those out to see which works best for you. On the other hand, I’m offering two basic recipes for making meatballs in-house. The first recipe, “Mamma’s Magnificent Meatballs,” is a big batch deal. But once made and cooked, they can be frozen and kept for later use. The second recipe is similar in style, but it is more or less a test recipe so that you can get the hang of the process.

Just to keep the ball rolling, I am giving you a couple of tweaks that will allow you to offer something a bit different — lamb meatballs and turkey meatballs. The best way to market your meatball pizza is to draw attention to it. Come up with a clever slogan like “We are having a ball!” (groan) or “Try one of our specialty meatball pizzas.” You can also play up the idea that a turkey meatball pizza would be a healthier option. Let’s get rolling.

Mamma’s Magnificent
Meatballs

Yield: about 100 2-ounce meatballs

8 pounds lean ground beef
2 pounds ground pork
¼ cup finely chopped or crushed garlic
2 medium-size onions, finely chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
5 cups bread torn from day-old Italian or French bread, soaked in milk then squeezed dry
7 eggs, lightly beaten
3 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons black pepper
4 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled

Combine all the ingredients in the order listed. Mix by hand thoroughly.

Form the meatballs — a bit larger than a golf ball — by rolling the meat between the palms of your hand.

Lay a thin film of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Sauté the meatballs over medium-high heat in batches until they are cooked through, turning them frequently to brown evenly.

Once cooled, the meatballs can be used at once or frozen for later use

Cook’s Notes: Vary the size of the meatballs for the application — sandwich, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs can be baked in the oven (450 F) instead of sautéed. Set a pizza screen on top of a pizza pan. Spray the screen with vegetable oil. Arrange the meatballs on the screen and bake until cooked through. Cooking time will vary relative to the type of oven being used.

Basic Meatball Recipe

Yield: 18 meatballs, each about 2 inches in diameter

1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup cubed day-old Italian bread
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon each dried oregano and dried basil, crumbled
¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork and beef. In another bowl, soak the bread in the milk until it is saturated. Squeeze the bread and drain off excessive milk. Tear the bread into small pieces and add it to the meat. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and form into meatballs.

Arrange the meatballs on a sheet pan fitted out with a drain tray (or use a spray-coated pizza screen). Bake the meatballs until cooked through. Set aside. (Can be prepped ahead and held, covered, refrigerated, for up to four days. Or frozen.)

Now, on to the meatball pizza. Take note of these suggestions:

Do not try to use a large meatball. The crust may not carry the weight, and your food costs will be too much to deal with.

You can use smaller meatballs as they are but, again, don’t load the crust down.

A better option is to slice the meatballs in half horizontally. Put the flat side of the meatball down, the domed side up.

Another option is to slice the meatballs (the larger size) into “coins” and use those on the pizza in the same manner as, say, pepperoni.

How many meatballs to use is relative to the pizza size. Use common sense. Not too many, not too little.

Spread pizza sauce over the crust. Sprinkle some grated Romano cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle on some grated mozzarella (or other grated cheese). Arrange the halved meatballs over the cheese. Sprinkle on additional cheese. For example, a 14-inch pizza would take about 8 ounces of grated mozzarella. Use 4 ounces for the first layer of cheese; 4 ounces for the second layer of cheese. Bake.

Three Great Variations

Lamb meatballs. In the “Basic Meatball” recipe, replace the pork with ground lamb. Replace the oregano with ½ teaspoon ground cumin. Replace the basil with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Turkey meatballs. In the “Basic Meatball” recipe, replace the pork AND the beef with ground lean turkey, and add 1 teaspoon ground or crushed fennel seeds to the recipe.

Great Balls of Fire. Spice up a meatball pizza by adding cayenne pepper, to taste, to the basic meatball recipe. If you take this route, after mixing all the ingredients, test fry some of the meat and adjust the spicy-heat accordingly.

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

By Pasquale "Pat" Bruno Jr.
Photos by Josh Keown

Bacon is back. In the past few months I have come across no fewer than seven food articles in which bacon played either a main role or a supporting role in various dishes. Talk about pigging out. Did you know that there was a “Bacon of the Month Club?” Now you do. And have you heard about the “Bacon Explosion?” Two pounds of bacon get woven through and around two pounds of Italian sausage, the whole of which is slathered in barbecue sauce. Talk about going whole hog!

Bacon is loaded with fl avor (“everything tastes better with bacon” is pushing the envelope, but there is some truth there), so it does have a place in many dishes and styles of food. And to expand the possibilities, consider using pancetta. The Italian version of bacon, pancetta is a cured — but not smoked — pork product that should be considered when working up dishes where the idea of pork has merit. One example would be a PLT, or pancetta, lettuce and tomato panini. Buy baby pancetta (it is sold rolled and has the shape of, say, capicolla or salami). Slice it thin, crisp it in a sauté pan and use the whole round slices to make a great panini.

I am also in favor of using bacon (or pancetta) in pasta dishes. For example, one of the tastiest pasta dishes around is spaghetti carbonara. Spaghetti carbonara uses just a few ingredients — cooked bacon (or pancetta), grated Parmesan, eggs, black pepper — that when tossed with the cooked pasta makes quite an amazing and delicious dish. And don’t forget that bacon can be used quite effectively in a salad. For example, combine fresh spinach with crisp bacon, tomatoes, and slices of hard-boiled eggs. A balsamic vinaigrette dressing completes this delicious salad.

Cooking bacon is a no-brainer, but the simplest and easiest method is to microwave it. You can prep a whole lot of bacon in a short amount of time this way. If you do that, be sure to keep the cooked bacon in the cooler or prep table (covered). Even though it is cooked, bacon can go over the hill fast, so I recommend you not cook more than you need for, say, four days.

On the other hand, if you need the fat that is rendered from the cooking of the bacon, use a sauté pan and fry away. Or lay the bacon on a sheet pan and cook it in the deck oven (conveyor oven works too, but the grease splatters really do a number on the oven). There is also the possibility of deep-frying the bacon, should you want it extra crisp to use, say, as crumbles on a salad. The deep-frying does take most of the fat out, which you can take two ways: healthier, but with a loss of flavor.

So there’s an idea, thinking about that “Pork Explosion.” What about the possibility of using bacon and Italian sausage together as a pizza topping. Got a name for it? No? I do. “Pork Pie.”



Pork (Pizza) Pie

I have to admit right up front that this pizza is not low on calories or fat, but when it comes to flavor, there is nothing quite like it.

Makes one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 14-inch pizza shell
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
10 ounces ground pork
2 teaspoons ground fennel
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, then chopped into ½-inch pieces
8 ounces ground tomatoes or tomato puree
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

Spread the mozzarella over the crust up to ½-inch of the edge.

Mix the ground pork with the fennel, salt, pepper and press into a patty that is about 12-inches in diameter (in other words, very thin). Put the pork patty on top of the cheese.

Sprinkle the cooked and chopped bacon over the pork. Ladle on the tomatoes. Sprinkle the Romano cheese evenly over the tomatoes. Bake.

Bacon and Spinach Pizza

You will note that in this recipe I use the half-and-half cheese method — half the cheese directly on the crust, then add the toppings and finish with the remaining cheese. No tomatoes are used on this pizza. This method gives the pizza a lot more eye appeal since the toppings are visible. This pizza falls into the “Signature” category of pizzas. In other words, because it is made with premium ingredients, you can charge a bit more. Your customers will agree, once they have had a slice or two, that this pizza is worth an extra buck or two.

Makes one 12-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 12-inch pizza shell
¼ pound bacon, cooked until crisp and broken into pieces
8 ounces 50/50 blend mozzarella and provolone
½ pound (about) fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, sliced
10-12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh garlic
¼ cup toasted pine nuts

Spread half the cheese blend over the rolled out crust. Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the cheese.

Lay the sliced fresh tomatoes evenly over the cheese.

Spread the spinach leaves evenly over the bacon and tomatoes.

Drizzle the olive oil over the spinach, followed by the chopped fresh garlic.

Sprinkle on the remaining 4 ounces of cheese, followed by the toasted pine nuts. Bake. 

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

By Carol Meres Kroskey
Photos by Josh Keown

A s one of the basic staples of any Italian menu, a fl avorful meat sauce makes the difference between an okay dish and a top seller. That’s why most operators don’t mind the time and effort it takes to make a savory meat sauce or a richer alternative, Bolognese.

Many recipes for Bolognese call for very little tomato content, focusing instead on beef, pancetta, meat stock, white wine and milk. A bit of tomato paste is added more as an accent than as a base for this sauce — a rich, tender meaty sauce that complements most types of pasta.

However, as with pizza, numerous variations for both meat and Bolognese sauces exist, allowing each pizzeria to come up with its own distinctive dishes.

Rocco Biale, owner of Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria in Walnut Creek, California, includes both types of meat sauces on his menu. His meat sauce starts with well-browned ground beef and Italian sausage, and includes highquality canned tomatoes. To prepare the Bolognese, the cooks add heavy cream to the meat sauce at the end of the cooking process.

“I’ve seen a lot of different versions of Bolognese,” says Biale, “but the creambased meat sauce is what we prefer. I like the lighter color, and the cream gives the sauce a little thinner consistency. Although the Bolognese sauce isn’t quite as hearty as the regular meat sauce, the Bolognese has a richer fl avor. It’s my favorite, and it’s what I recommend when a customer can’t decide which sauce to order.

“In general, we haven’t noticed a dramatic change in our customers’ ordering habits recently. We’ve always had family friendly prices for our pasta dishes, ranging from $7 to $9, and customers consider them an economical choice. We also sell sauces by the pint and quart from the hot line. That way, customers can take one home and do what they want with it.”

At Luigi’s Pizzeria Restaurant in Stamford, Connecticut, customers also have a choice between a hearty meat sauce and a creamy Bolognese. Says manager Ryan Reed, “Both sauces have lots of beef, and we make them with a little extra olive oil to carry the fl avor better. We use chopped beef for a heartier texture and appearance. Besides serving it over al denté pasta, we use meat sauce in our lasagna, and serve it over gnocchi. We also offer pasta as a side with our entrées, and we serve it with the meat sauce on request.

“Our Bolognese starts with the same meat sauce. But we make it fresh for every order by adding heavy cream to a serving to fi nish it. Besides being served on pasta, the Bolognese is part of the recipe for some of our specials. Most customers are familiar with our regular meat sauce and the Bolognese, and they’re both pretty popular. But if a customer needs help, our servers are happy to explain the difference between the two sauces.”

At Villa Rosa Pizza, Pasta and More in Chicago, the meat sauce is so well regarded that owners Nancy and Carlos Beidleman have been approached by companies who want to package it and sell it in supermarkets. To the Beidlemans, that just confi rms that their emphasis on quality is the right way to go.



“We make our meat sauce from scratch in 15-quart batches every two or three days,” says Carlos. “Our cook starts it at 10 a.m., but the sauce doesn’t fi nish cooking until 7 or 8 p.m., because it’s slowly simmered to make sure the fl avors blend well. We chill the sauce, then take it out a little at a time to reheat it for orders. Keeping the sauce chilled until the following day or two allows the fl avors to mature, so the sauce tastes better than it would if we served it the night we made it.

“Because our marinara sauce is our most popular, we use it to fl avor the meat sauce. But we always start by cooking the meat and vegetables fi rst, then add the rest of the ingredients that we use in the marinara sauce. We don’t just add meat to the prepared marinara sauce, because we wouldn’t get the same great fl avor.

“We serve a lot of the meat sauce with the eight pastas on our menu. Our generous serving size, about 8 ounces of sauce over pasta, makes people say ‘wow’ when they see it. A lot of them leave with doggy bags and have it for lunch the next day. We sell our sauces separately in 16- and 32-ounce insulated containers, and we also get requests from people to use it on our meatball or the Italian beef sandwiches, even on pizzas once in a while. Although some people could be doing that to get more for their money, I think it’s more a matter of preference because they just like the way our meat sauce tastes.” ❖

Creamy Meat Sauce
Yield: 8 quarts (about 42 servings)

½ cup olive oil
12 ounces minced onions
8 garlic cloves, minced
5 pounds coarsely ground lean chuck
5 pounds ground pork or veal
3 quarts tomato purée
1 quart beef stock
6 ounces tomato paste
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup chopped fresh oregano
¼ cup chopped fresh thyme Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 3 to 4 pints whipping cream

1. Heat olive oil. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent.

2. Add ground meats; cook and stir until meat is lightly browned (do not overcook).

3. Stir in tomato purée, beef stock, tomato paste, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer gently. Skim occasionally to degrease, if necessary. Continue simmering 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until sauce reaches desired consistency.

4. Heat whipping cream before blending into cooked sauce. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Gently reheat and hold on hot line.

Italian Meat Sauce
Yield: 10 quarts (about 60 servings)

2 cups olive oil
1 quart fi nely chopped onions
1 quart fi nely chopped celery
6 cloves garlic, crushed
8 pounds coarsely ground meat (combination of beef, veal, pork)
2¼ quarts beef stock
1 No. 10 can crushed plum tomatoes (or ground Italian tomatoes)
1 No. 10 can tomato purée
1 No. 2½ can tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 bay leaves
1 ounce sugar
Salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste

1. Heat olive oil. Add onions, celery and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent.

2. Add ground meat. Braise over low heat until lightly browned (do not overcook).

3. Stir in beef stock, plum tomatoes, tomato purée, tomato paste, basil, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and sugar. Reduce heat to low, and simmer gently. Skim occasionally to degrease, if necessary. Continue simmering 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until sauce reaches desired consistency.

4. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as needed. If necessary, sauce can be thickened with a little cornstarch blended in water.

Cook’s Note: add mushrooms and green peppers to sauce, if desired.

Carol Meres Kroskey is a freelance writer based in Chicago. She has extensive knowledge covering the baking and food service industries for a variety of publications.

By Katie Ayoub
Photo by Rick Daugherty

Prosciutto is more than just Italian ham. It’s a delicacy, prized for its melt-in-your-mouth texture and subtle, complex flavor. A little goes a long way, allowing operators to leverage prosciutto’s sense of place, perceived value and flavor profile. Fabricated from the haunches of a pig, lots of love and attention goes into its production: the meat is salted, air-cured, greased with salted lard and then cured for 12 to 30 months. Prosciutto di Parma is perhaps the most common variety. Pigs raised in Italy’s Parma region for prosciutto, or Parma ham, are fed a diet that includes whey from locally made Parmiggiano-Reggiano, giving it its distinctly rich, sweet-salty flavor. (The longer it’s aged, the deeper and meatier the flavor.)

So how best to show off prosciutto’s rosy color, sublime texture and sweet flavor? Classic appetizers lay thin layers of prosciutto over musky melon, or wrap the paper-thin slices around grilled asparagus spears or luscious figs. Prosciutto stars in antipasto platters, where the complex-flavored ham shares space with pepperoni and fresh mozzarella, roasted red pepper, marinated artichokes and briny olives. But some operators are extolling the virtues of prosciutto beyond its traditional uses, perhaps as a pizza topping or as a high-value ingredient in a signature pasta dish.

At Prosciutto’s Pizzeria, Pub & Restaurant in Cornelius, North Carolina, prosciutto is prevalent on the menu. The Prosciutto’s House Pizza, a gourmet white pizza with an olive-oil and garlic base, combines the meat with feta and mozzarella. Out of 15 specialty pizzas, it ranks among the top-three sellers. “We lay the prosciutto over the dough, and then the cheeses on top,” says Joel Pfyffer, owner operator of this 130-seat restaurant. “The prosciutto crisps up beautifully.”

The Prosciutto’s House Pasta sports cheese tortellini tossed with prosciutto and garlic sautéed in olive oil, mushrooms, grilled chicken and Alfredo sauce. “It’s our No. 1 seller,” he says. “We make the Alfredo sauce in house. The dish has wonderful fl avors in it—from the cheese and garlic to the really good quality prosciutto.”

An entrée portion sells for $13.95 and comes with salad and bread. The dish runs a food cost of $6.50.

“We use prosciutto di Parma, and cut it very, very thin,” he says. “You only need a little of it to make a good impact on the dish. He says the trick is to have someone who knows how to wield a knife well, slicing the prosciutto paper thin. The restaurant goes through 10 pounds a week, storing it in the walk-in until needed. Other uses for prosciutto? “We deep fry it and add it to salads. Or it’s a perfect base for an Italian sandwich,” says Pfyffer.

At 74-seat Vertuccio’s Pizza on the Park in Brooklyn, New York, Chef Gaetano Giuffre goes through a whole leg of prosciutto once a week. It’s showcased on two of the menu’s 20 gourmet pizzas and on one of its focaccia sandwiches. On the Reale Pizza, the dough is topped with San Marzano tomato sauce, Fior di latte mozzarella and chunks of fried eggplant. Once baked, the chef tops the pizza with thin slices of prosciutto di Parma and fresh basil. “By fi nishing the pizza with the prosciutto, you’re maintaining its freshness and wonderful texture,” says Giuffre. The 18-inch pie sells for $21.50 and runs a 30 percent food cost. It falls in the top six or seven out of the 20 pizzas.

Vertuccio’s Prosciutto Pizza sees cherry tomatoes and Fior di latte mozzarella on a pizza. When pulled out of the oven, Giuffre adds wisps of arugula, razor-thin slices of prosciutto and shaved Parmesan cheese. “The flavors are simple, fresh and light,” he says. “The prosciutto adds some depth.” The 18-inch pizza sells for $20 and runs a 30 percent food cost.

The Prosciutto, a sandwich housed between two slices of brick-oven focaccia, boasts prosciutto, arugula, Fior di latte mozzarella and a balsamic dressing, which brings out the prosciutto’s sweeter side. “We want to highlight the delicacy of prosciutto, complementing it with flavors, but not overwhelming it,” says Giuffre. 

Pasta with Prosciutto, Parmesan and Peas

Yields 8 servings

24 ounces tagliatelle or other pasta
1½ tablespoons butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
8 ounces prosciutto, sliced paper thin and halved
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta until al dente in a large pot of boiling, salted water, according to package directions. Reserve 2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat; add shallot and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add cream, peas and prosciutto; bring to a very gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring. Simmer until peas are heated through, about 4 minutes.

Add lemon juice and zest. Toss pasta with sauce; add Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add some of reserved pasta water to thin sauce as desired. Serve immediately; top with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

By Jeff Freehof
Photos by Josh Keown & Rick Daugherty

Good, old-fashioned hamburger has adorned pizza across America for decades now. Using ground beef is simple, but bear in mind that there are different levels of leanness to consider when purchasing the ingredient. The leaner you go, the more expensive it gets.

It’s important to figure out how to cross-utilize all the ingredients on your menu. For example, would it make sense to add hamburgers to your sandwich section? Could you use the ground beef in a marinara meat sauce? These are just options to keep in mind. But for this story, let’s focus on ground beef as a pizza topping.

Regardless of the lean-to-fat ratio you use, make sure you buy real ground beef. There is no need to use beef that has fillers. Trust me, that inferior product won’t really save you a buck in the long run because it will cost you customers.

Once you’ve decided on the ground beef that you’re going to purchase, you need to cook it off in a big skillet. I prefer to season my ground beef slightly with a little salt and pepper while I’m cooking it to give it some flavor. Once it’s cooked, drain well and then cool it as quickly as you can for safety reasons. Laying it out on sheet pans and cooling it in the refrigerator or freezer is a great way to achieve this. Next, you want to portion the ground beef in appropriate size containers or bags. If you want to prepare plenty in advance, you may freeze this product and thaw it as you need it.

If you want to spice things up a little, no problem! Just like we take plain wings and toss them in different sauces, we can do the same thing with our ground beef to create new masterpieces on a pizza crust for our guests. Consider the following options:

Mexican pizza: Right after you drain your beef, set some aside and add taco seasoning. Use this both for an amazing taco salad and a Mexican pizza. To create the latter, use salsa on crust instead of pizza sauce. Top with peppers, onions, tomatoes, black olives and taco beef, and blend some cheddar cheese with your pizza cheese for extra oomph. Also, garnishing with a little bit of shredded Romaine makes for a great finishing touch.

BBQ beef pizza: Mix a little BBQ sauce in with your ground beef. Top your dough with BBQ sauce, bacon, ham, BBQ beef, onions, cheese and bake to perfection. BBQ lovers will praise you for this one.

Buffalo beef pizza: Buffalo chicken has been popular, but there’s no reason not to season some cooked ground beef with spicy Buffalo sauce. Use this as a topping, along with peppers, onions and cheese. Serve this with celery sticks and ranch dressing for dipping and you’ve got a hot seller. u

Jeff Freehof owns The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia. He is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today and a speaker at the Pizza Expo family of trade shows.

BY MELANIE WOLKOFF WACHSMAN
PHOTO BY JOSH KEOWN

Grill it. Roast it. Fry it. Smoke it. Pizzeria operators have a seemingly endless list of ways to prepare chicken. However, deciding on what type to chicken to use — fresh or frozen — is more limited. There are benefits to both.

“Fresh chicken is not only the most economical purchase alternative, it’s also the most versatile, allowing operators to offer a variety of flavor profiles. Frozen chicken is a preferred choice where less prep work and longer shelf life is valued,” says Randy McKinney, vice president of product and program development for The Broaster Company in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Piazza Italian Kitchen in Colorado Springs, Colorado, only uses fresh, all natural cage-free chicken on its menu. “The chicken is minimally processed, which means that it is not injected with sodium solutions to plump the chickens up with artificial moisture. We feel it is the best product in flavor and tenderness available,” says Randy Price, president of the restaurant’s parent company, Rocky Mountain Restaurant Group.

Brenda McDonnell, owner/operator of Brenda’s Pizzeria and Trader’s Coffeehouse in Oakland, Maryland, purchases both frozen and fresh chicken. McDonnell places frozen fajita-seasoned chicken on specialty pizzas, while fresh chicken is incorporated into entrées. “The advantages to using the frozen, precooked chicken is that it is already cooked and sliced, so it saves on labor and time,” says McDonnell.

Incorporating products such as frozen chicken breast tenders, frozen popcorn chicken or frozen Buffalo wings provides operators with a cost-effective and easy way to enhance their chicken appetizer options without having to invest in much more labor.

The difference in food cost between fresh and frozen chicken products, explains McKinney, depends on a variety of factors — including whether the chicken is unmarinated or marinated, unbreaded or breaded, whole bird or cut (8-piece cut, leg quarters, etc.), and how it is cleaned and packed, such as super-clean vs. clean, ice-packed vs. gas flushed or vacuum packed.

Price finds that the cost of fresh chicken fluctuates throughout the year. “We currently pay $2.41 a pound for all natural fresh chicken. The current price for commodity chicken is around $1.68 per pound,” he says.

Whether you choose fresh or frozen chicken — both require strict adherence to safe handling and prep procedures. The chicken needs to be kept as cold as possible (40 degrees or cooler) and should never be left out at room temperature. McKinney recommends establishing a FIFO system (first-in, first-out) to ensure proper rotation of any food products and to dedicate an area to handling the product.

“We immediately put our chicken on a sheet tray in the raw chicken area in our walk-in. We date it and try to get it prepped within two days,” says McDonnell, who designates certain workers solely to chicken prep. Those workers must sanitize the surface area and any shears to be used prior to and after preparing the product and use food handling gloves, as well as specific cutting boards and knives. “You can’t start and stop when cutting or cleaning this product,” she adds. “We are extremely careful, and everyone is trained on this.”

Using separate cutting boards and utensils for raw and cooked/ready-to-eat products also helps avoid cross contamination. Other ways to avoid cross contamination include sanitizing all surfaces that come in contact with raw chicken, washing and sanitizing hands, and changing food handling gloves between handling raw meats and cooked/ready-to-eat products.

“Do not allow raw chicken to come into contact with cooked chicken or other ready-to-eat food products,” says McKinney. If chicken is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator, not at room temperature. “It takes only 15 to 20 minutes for germs to produce, contaminate food and cause an outbreak of food-borne illness.”

Price recommends storing chicken in the coolest part of the cooler on the lowest shelf with nothing underneath it to prevent cross contamination from juices. The shelf life for a fresh chicken product depends on how the chicken is packed. Generally, says McKinney, from the kill date ice-packed chicken has a shelf life of seven to 10 days under optimum conditions, while gas flushed or vacuum-packed chicken still in the sealed bag has a shelf life of 10 to 14 days. Operators should check with their supplier to find out the supplier’s recommended shelf life specification. 

Chicken Parmesan

Yield: two 8-ounce servings
4 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken
breast halves
½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon basil
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 ounces Tomato or spaghetti sauce
Four slices of mozzarella cheese
Basil sprigs, for garnish

Flatten chicken to ¼-inch thickness.
In a shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese and basil. In another bowl, beat egg. Lightly coat chicken with flour, dip chicken into egg, then coat with breadcrumb mixture.
In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter and oil over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.
Top each piece of chicken with tomato or spaghetti sauce and one slice of mozzarella cheese. Place under broiler to melt cheese. Place basil sprig on top of cheese for garnish.
Serve with a side of pasta and tomato sauce.
(Recipe courtesy of Randy Price, Rocky Mountain Restaurant Group.)

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

BY PAT BRUNO
PHOTOS BY JOSH KEOWN

What exactly is soppressata? In a nutshell, it’s a form of dry- cured salami. A specialty of southern Italy, it is traditionally made using pork (beef is used on occasion). The basic seasonings include cracked red pepper and garlic. Depending on who is making it, some versions are hotter than others (in other words, more red pepper is used). Overall, I love the fragrant, spicy flavor of soppressata.

A number of Italian restaurants in Chicago use soppressata as part of a salumi (cured meats) and cheese platter. And when used as part of this style of antipasti platter, soppressata should be sliced thin (even thinner than pepperoni).

Speaking of pepperoni, soppressata works as a perfect stand-in or substitute for pepperoni –– it can be used on a pizza the same way you would use pepperoni. Romance it a bit, though, by saying something like “soppressata calabrese –– a spicy salami” on your toppings list. Test a few slices to see how much fat it throws off (some fat is a good thing, since it adds to the overall flavor) and if there is excessive “cupping.”

When I am replacing pepperoni with soppressata on a pizza, I find that a coarse chop works great. I scatter the chopped soppressata atop the cheese and across the pizza. It makes for a great presentation and a flavor that is hard to beat. Having said that, I should also point out that, on average, soppressata has a higher food cost than pepperoni.

Beyond using it for pizza, I also use it to kickstart a red sauce by sauteéing chopped soppressata in olive oil and crushed garlic. Then I add crushed all- purpose tomatoes, oregano and basil. That’s it! You’ve got a delicious, gently meaty red sauce.

Soppressata has a variety of uses beyond pizza or the aforementioned meats platter. Try using it in a sandwich, for example. Check out this Panini recipe and see what you think:

PANINI CALABRESE

Yield: 8 sandwiches (scale up in direct proportion)

8 to 12 ounces (about 16 to 24 slices) thinly sliced soppressata (dry-cured Italian salami)

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

8 thin slices prosciutto

8 thin slices fresh mozzarella

8 panini buns or rolls, toasted or grilled

1 cup roasted red bell pepper strips

16 large fresh basil leaves

In a nonstick sauté pan set over medium- high heat, fry the soppressata until lightly crisp and some fat has rendered, about 2 minutes per side. Remove it to a plate.

Lightly brush the buns or bread with extra-virgin olive oil.

Layer each bun this way: the soppressata, 2 slices prosciutto, 2 slices mozzarella, 2-3 strips of roasted red bell pepper strips on one slice of the bread. Top with the other slice and place the sandwich in the pan, pressing down on the sandwich with the palm of your hand. When that side is lightly toasted, about 3 to 4 minutes, flip the sandwich and toast the other side. (Alternatively, use a sandwich press or panini grill.)

Remove the sandwich to a cutting board and open the sandwich. Lay down four basil leaves on each sandwich. Close the sandwiches, then slice them in half to serve.

PASTA WITH SOPPRESSATA AND EGGPLANT

Yield: 4 servings (Scale up in direct proportion)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 eggplant (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into ½-inch dice

1 cup chopped yellow onion

¼ pound soppressata in chunks about ¼-inch thick

3 cups canned plum tomatoes with juices

¼ teaspoon (or to taste) dried red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound farfalle pasta (or other short pasta such as penne, rigatoni)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Rub a baking sheet or sheet pan with the olive oil. Arrange the eggplant in one layer on the pan. Sprinkle the onion over the eggplant. Roast the eggplant and onion for about 20 minutes until it is barely tender (can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead and held).

While the eggplant is roasting, make the sauce. In a large saute pan set over medium-high heat, cook and stir the soppressata until it throws off some fat and starts to crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Add the pepper. Simmer the sauce vigorously for about 20 minutes or until the sauce is reduced to about 2 cups (can be prepared several hours ahead and held).

Add the roasted eggplant and onions to the tomatoes. Turn the heat down to maintain a low, steady simmer.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling, salted water until it is al dente. Drain the pasta and turn it out into a large heated serving bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine. Divide the pasta among four heated serving bowls. Top each serving with grated Parmesan cheese. u

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

By Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman
Photos by Josh Keown

Think breaded chicken, and the ubiquitous chicken tender may come to mind. Yet many pizzeria operators find that breaded chicken also fits nicely in entrées and salads — and even as specialty pizza toppers.

At Casa Del-Dio Pizzeria and Italian Kitchen in Orlando, Florida, breaded chicken appears in traditional dishes such as chicken parmigiana and over salads. Guests also enjoy entrées such as chicken Del-Dio, which is a breaded chicken cutlet layered with ham, ricotta and mozzarella that is baked in a casserole dish, garnished with fresh parsley and served with pasta.

Breaded chicken need not be limited to entrées, salads or appetizers. Kyle Markott, owner of Gio’s Pizzeria in Coram, New York, offers breaded chicken on pizza. “Breaded chicken on pizza is one of our most popular toppings,” he says. “Our most famous pizza and biggest seller is our Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza. Customers go nuts for it! We also make a killer chicken Parmesan pizza as well.”

The Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza starts off with a dough baked with a cheese bottom. After baking, it is topped with breaded chicken cutlet,
bacon, mozzarella and American cheese. It returns to the oven to finish cooking. Once done, it’s drizzled with ranch dressing. “The smell encompasses the entire pizzeria,” says Markott.

Gio’s offers a full variety of breaded chicken, from buffalo and barbeque wings to chicken cutlets.

“We mostly offer traditional breaded chicken items,” Markott says. “(Yet), a lot of people add breaded chicken to their entrées, like penne vodka. It turns into a nice up-sell item.” Markott charges diners $2 extra to add chicken.

The best way to prepare and cook breaded chicken? Markott recommends the right amount of egg product and seasoned breadcrumb mixture. “A trick to the standard breadcrumb is to simply make it yourself,” he says. “You have the ability to add more seasoning instead of just buying them from your bread distributor. Definitely add Parmesan cheese to your breadcrumbs. Be sure to change your fryer oil on a regular basis for the best tasting chicken.”

Markott prefers to use fresh chicken. “We make our own chicken fingers, which many pizzerias buy frozen,” he says, adding that they also use fresh chicken wings.

Elisa Delgardio, operations and marketing manager at Casa Del-Dio Pizzeria and Italian Kitchen, says the best way to prepare breaded chicken is to pound out the cutlets, making sure they are not too thin. Then dip the cutlets in an egg wash made out of a mixture of egg and heavy cream. She drenches the cutlets into seasoned breadcrumbs and deep-fries the cutlets until golden brown. Delgardio prepares the breaded chicken per order.

Delgardio prefers to use fresh chicken versus frozen. “I find fresh chicken tastes better, and it’s easier to control the consistency,” she says.

Fresh isn’t best for every operator. Frozen chicken may be the preferred choice at high-volume establishments where less prep work and longer shelf life is valued. Utilizing frozen chicken tenders, for example, is an easy way to enhance an existing appetizer menu with little planning.

At Straw Hat Pizza and Restaurant, fresh chicken is placed on pizzas and salads. But, for the breaded chicken strip appetizers and kids’ meals, the company favors using a frozen product citing ease-of-use, says Jonathan C. Fornaci, president and CEO. “It’s very easy for Straw Hat. The strips come in frozen, and we pull them from the freezer and put directly in the pizza oven, cook for five minutes and serve,” he says. Since it is for a discounted kids’ meal, Fornaci says the food cost for the chicken is 28 percent.

Markott finds fresh chicken affords him better quality and control of food cost. Although he admits fresh chicken prices change frequently. Currently it costs $1.39 per pound. “Let’s face it, the more items you can prep in house without having to purchase in a box, you inevitably save money,” he says.


Five Breaded Chicken Pizza Possibilities

///////////////////////////////

Need inspiration for your own specialty breaded chicken pies? Consider the following combinations:

1) Chicken Parmesan (breaded chicken, tomato sauce and mozzarella).

2) Chicken-Bacon-Ranch (cheese, bacon, breaded chicken and tomatoes with buttermilk ranch dressing drizzle).

3) Tex-Mex Chicken (either red or green enchilada sauce topped with corn, diced breaded chicken, chilies, cheese, cilantro and drizzled in salsa).

4) Barbecue Chicken (barbecue sauce topped with cheese, breaded chicken, bell peppers and onions).

5) Buffalo Chicken (breaded chicken, bleu cheese, red
onions and mild buffalo sauce).


Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

By Katie Ayoub
Photo by Josh Keown

Pork is media’s darling right now, and operators across the country are happily placing swine in the spotlight. Pork belly. Pork shoulder. Lardo. Speck. Prosciutto. Pancetta. And bacon … always bacon. Pizza is no stranger to pork, showing unadulterated love to salty ham, crisp bacon and meaty sausage. But a brave, new porcine world begs to be explored. Today’s diners clamor for big, bold flavor. They seek culinary adventure.

Talk about being ahead of its time — Pete & Sam’s Restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee discovered the wonders of slow-cooked pork shoulder on pizza back in the early 1950s. Today, its Bar B Q Pizza boasts a cult following, including blogger-sensation Hungry Girl, who sang its praises on The Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”

“We make or cook everything in house,” says Sam Bomarito Jr.,
co-owner of this 350-seat Italian restaurant. The Bar B Q Pizza stars house-made tomato sauce, cheddar, mozzarella and slow-cooked pork shoulder tossed in house-made sweet barbecue sauce. Bomarito seasons a seven- or eight-pound bone-in Boston butt with a proprietary dry rub. He smokes it over hickory and apple wood for 16 hours at 230 F. He then debones, defats and chops the melt-in-your-mouth meat. The restaurant goes through 220 pounds of pork butt a week, with 98 percent of the yield serving this pizza. He explains that 100 pounds of pork butt yields 60 pounds of useable meat. He charges $14 for 12-inch pizzas and runs a food cost of 25 to 28 percent. “Once we cook it, we break it down and immediately refrigerate it. We cook pork every few days because we go through it so quickly,” says Bomarito.

And although convenience pork products abound — those that have been salted, braised, pulled, smoked or cured — Pizza Today is seeing a trend in craftsmanship. Operators are curing pork shoulders in their walk-ins. They’re smoking meats. They’re grinding their own sausages. Food cost may be a factor, but labor cost certainly counters that. Indeed, the driver seems to be passion.

At Diavola Restaurant in Geyserville, California, chef/owner Dino Bugica smokes fresh pork belly and features it on a pizza called Cha Cha Cha. Pork belly, above all other pork products, has raised its profile, with chefs touting its contrast of textures and rich, full-fat flavor. For this pizza, Bugica dry rubs Duroc pork belly and lets it rest for a day. He then smokes it over cherry and mesquite wood for five hours at 200 F and slices it like bacon, but a little thicker. He then cubes it. The thin-crust pizza sees house-made red sauce (San Marzano tomatoes and basil), a little shredded mozzarella, local goat cheese, raw frigitello peppers (local green bell pepper) and roasted red pepper. The pork belly goes over top, along with green onion and Calabrian oregano, and then the pizza is roasted in the wood-fired oven until crisp.

“The tanginess of the goat cheese with the sweet roasted pepper and the smoky, fatty pork belly make perfect sense,” says Bugica. “The Duroc pork has a good amount of meat, so it’s not too fatty. Not a lot renders off.” He charges $16 for a 12-inch pie and runs a food cost of $1.75. “Pork belly is $3 to $4 a pound, and we use about three ounces on a pizza.” When storing the pork belly, he Cryovacs it, then keeps it in the walk-in for about a week.

Pork also stars in the Sonja Pizza at 60-seat Diavola. A red base gets a light sprinkling of mozzarella and then diced heirloom tomatoes go over top. Once the pizza is pulled from the oven, Bugica adds dollops of mascarpone that melt out a bit from the heat of the pizza. Shavings of prosciutto di Parma and wild, local arugula finish the picture. He charges $16.25 for a 12-inch pie and runs a food cost of $2. “The prosciutto is wonderful — salty, sweet,” he says. “It’s a great pork product.”

BBQ Pork, Roasted Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza



BBQ Pork

1.5 pounds pork spareribs
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil



Combine the hoisin, barbecue sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and olive oil. Toss with the spareribs; grill or roast at 400 F, until completely cooked and tender, about an hour. Shred meat into small chunks.



Roasted Tomatoes

30 cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste



Slice tomatoes in half; toss with garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet; roast for 90 minutes at 275 F, or until they shrivel.



Caramelized Onions

2 tablespoons butter
3 cups thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons apple cider
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoons sherry-wine vinegar
1 cup mozzarella cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions, brown sugar; season with salt and pepper. Sauté over medium-low heat until the onions are a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Add apple cider, dry sherry and sherry-wine vinegar; cook another 10 minutes.

On pizza dough, lay down caramelized onions, then pork, then cheese, then tomatoes. Bake until golden brown in a very hot oven.

Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Naperville, Illinois.

By Glen Cybulski
Photo by Josh Keown

Making sausage in your restaurant is easier than you think, and fresh sausage cannot be beat. Take a minute and think about how many dishes use sausage. Go beyond topping your pizza and consider sausage sandwiches and even soups like sausage and roasted red pepper soup. Sausage is a main ingredient in many dishes in your restaurant, so why not make your own? I make sausage in my restaurant, Seasons Pizzeria Sports Bar Grill in Rohnert Park, California, and the options are endless, from sweet Italian to a spicy chipotle blend. In fact, chances are you already have the necessary equipment to make sausage. A food processor or large dough mixer with a grinding attachment works great. You can also use a good old meat grinder — I found mine at a local used equipment dealer for $100. Here, the casing tool comes with the meat grinder, mounting to the end of the grinder and allowing you to case your sausage. You can source your casing through your food distributor, or you can go down to your local specialty market and buy it there. The casing slides easily onto the end of the grinding tube, then you simply tie a knot in it and you are ready to make your sausage links.



So let’s start with the basics. First, cut a boneless pork butt into small pieces and grind it with a ¼-inch course-grind disc (this is the standard grinding die that comes with your grinder). Next, you’ll want to add your spices, and this is where you make it your own. Be creative –– you can use chipotle peppers, fresh basil, fennel or just experiment with any of your local fresh ingredients. I start with about 10 pounds of pork butt, grind it and then add my seasonings. Mix them either by hand or in your mixer with the paddle for about five minutes. After your sausage is mixed, cover it and set it in the walk-in or fridge overnight. This allows the flavors of the seasonings to infuse the pork, beef, chicken or turkey.



When your sausage is ready to prepare, you have a couple of options. The first is to pinch and cook your pizza topping. In a large skillet, just pinch and roll your sausage into pieces and sauté them until firm, but not completely cooked. A little pinkness inside will ensure that when you top your pizzas and fire them the sausage will come out perfectly cooked rather than dry.



The second option is to case your sausage into links as previously described. Remember to keep your casing wet and feed the sausage through the grinder slowly at first until you get the feel for it. Sizing your sausage links for production takes time, so I usually make long links and par-cook them for sandwiches, soups and pasta dishes.



So what’s the bottom line on house-made sausage? Anything made in-house and fresh is worthy of mention, so use that information on all your marketing pieces and on your menu. Blast it out on Facebook and Twitter daily and you will see the results.



You’ll also see results in your food cost savings –– and it’s a big savings: pork butt has an average cost of $1.43 per pound. Spice prices are fractional since you’ll use them across the board –– about 25 cents per pound, depending on what kind of ingredients you use. The average center plate cost for eight ounces of sausage will be about $1.25. Now compare that to pre-made sausage, and the savings quickly add up to big profits for your bottom line.

Your options for making fresh sausage are endless, and if you are anything like me you will experiment with a lot with different ingredients. Here are a few of my favorite sausage dishes:

• grilled chicken sausage and smoked mozzarella
• Italian hot sausage with chipotle peppers
• fresh basil and Parmesan chicken sausage
• original sweet Italian sausage, the most popular of all pizza topping sausages.



Finally, here is a simple — but very tasty — sausage recipe.

10 pounds ground pork
4 tablespoons salt
2 cups ice water
½ cup red wine
1 tablespoon cracked fennel seed
2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon coriander
3 teaspoons crushed hot peppers

Combine all ingredients, mix well and prepare for pizza toppings and links.




Glenn Cybulski is the executive chef and managing partner at Seasons Pizzeria Sports Bar Grill in Rohnert Park, California. He is a speaker and chef demonstrator at the annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

By John Gutekanst
Photos by Josh Keown

My pizzeria’s love affair with steak began over eight years ago when restaurant consultant Big Dave Ostrander convinced me to put steak on my menu. Of the 53 toppings I offer, it’s a standout. In fact, in the past 10 months, steak has been responsible for the sale of 1,043 large single steak topping piz- zas, 3,170 specialty pizzas and 577 steak sandwiches! If I hadn’t taken this chance on steak, I would still only be offering just ground beef like every other pizza place.

Steak is what I call my “pizza loss lead­er.” It’s a topping that not only increases sales of pizza, but also boosts sales of other toppings I partner it with — even though it is not as profitable because of a high food cost. Unlike many pizza toppings, steak has the “heavy-heavy topping syn­drome.” Because everything is priced according to weight, heavy toppings need to be cheaper — like pineapple, which is heavy but cheap. The opposite is pepperoni (which is light, but heavy in price). steak has a heavy price and heavy weight. In my experience, a top­ping with these two variables had better perform fabulously and produce some bodacious revenue.

My priorities, (besides taste) for any new pizza topping are:

• How will this help me capture more customers and revenue? 
  
  
• How much does it cost per pound, per ounce, per pizza? 
  
  
• Does the price I would have to charge jive with my market? 
  
  
• How many man-hours will it take to prep? 
  
  
• How many different styles of pizza can I make using my other existing toppings? 

I tried all the different types of pre-prepared steak on the market as well as cooking, slicing and holding a steak topping myself. The variation in steak flavors and cuts differ with preparation, shrinkage, texture, chew, marinade and price. all have the trade-offs that every pizza owner such as yourself must calculate to fit their own menu-mix and market.

Let’s take a look at a few cuts you might consider:

• Loin. expensive cuts like this are tender and delicious but contain less fat to melt on the pie. not many pre-prepared products on the market contain strip loin. loin can rocket from 56 cents an ounce for untrimmed strip loin to $1.20 an ounce for untrimmed waigu beef strip loin. Tenderloin’s tex­ture is delicate but adds minimal flavor to a pizza and costs almost 75 cents to 90 cents an ounce. This represents a minimum of $2.80 for each five-ounce portion before figuring labor prep. 
  
  
• Philly steak or top round. By far the most popular and recognizable fast food steak, the Philly steak has morphed from a thinly sliced top round to ribeye in some places. a big haunch of top round spiced with Italian season­ings and garlic cooked to less than medium rare and rendered thin on a slicer is magnificent on a pizza because the huge slice envelopes the pizza in a beefy cloak. The downside is that wet meat may turn harmful in the hands of anyone without sanitation training or with slow sales. Philly steak can be found in several thaw-and-serve variet­ies where you can peel like ham and top as you wish. It can cost between 25 to 40 cents an ounce (which, at five ounces, would cost a minimum of $1.25 a pizza). 
  
  
• Ribeye. This is probably the best thin sliced product for pizza because the meat is tender and fatty. If raw, it produces a wonderful beefy sheen on the cheese that permeates the whole pie but shrinks. If used pre-cooked it has a little less taste with less shrinkage and no hint of “blood stain” on the cheese. untrimmed ribeye in bulk costs 58 cents an ounce uncooked, but there are good chopped and formed products for as little as 28 cents an ounce. This costs as little as $1.40 per pie (5 ounces) — without any labor — to prep, and it doesn’t contain any of those scary chemicals like TBhQ, BhT or Bha. 
  
  
• Chuck eye roll. This obscure cut is a secret in the sandwich industry, especially in some Boston steak sand­wiches. It is a combination of layered muscles with the top being the end of the ribeye called the “chuck eye,” while the bottom is a bit tougher. The tougher texture lends itself to slicing, marinat­ing, then braising like Italian beef, but the fat has real lasting flavor. Prices are great during the summer, but go up in winter because they cut this up to produce chuck steak for pot roast. 

Through the use of some very creative and classic steak preparations, you can bring your food cost down and steak pizza sales up while making a delicious pizza. Let’s run a recipe and the numbers for this pizza. Start with your crust, sauce, cheese and box, which will cost you roughly $2.40:

Southwestern Fajita Steak Pizza
Dough, Sauce, Cheese, and Box = $2.40:
5 ounces of steak @ .28 oz = $1.40
2.5 ounces of onion @ .04 oz = $ .10
2.5 ounces of green pepper @ .15 oz = $ .38
(Tablespoon) southwest seasoning = $ .18
Total cost: $4.46


In a good market you’d price this pizza at about $26, with a food cost of 17 percent and a profit of $21.54. In a mid-market, it could be priced at $16 with a food cost of 28 percent and a $11.54 profit. In a discount market, price it at $12 and the food cost would be 37 percent, leaving you with $7.54 in base profits. This illustrates that even at a discounted price, steak can yield over $7 base profit for one pizza!

If you want to make more money from your menu mix, try steak. your customers will thank you.

ENHANCE YOUR MENU OPTIONS WITH STEAK

• Philly Steak Pizza: Cream sauce, cheese, asiago or cheddar, steak, onion, green pepper (Cover photo)] 
  
  
• Gorgonzola Steak Pizza: Cream sauce, cheese, spinach, gorgonzola, steak, balsamic glaze
  
  
• Steak and Potato Pizza: Steak, potato, cheese, broccoli, cheddar, bacon
  
  
• Bulgogi (Korean Beef) Pizza: Teriyaki sauce, provolone, steak, scallions, hot sauce, kimchi
  
  
• Lebanese Steak Pizza: Tahini cream, cheese, steak, onion, (cucumber and tomato after oven)
  
  
• Chicago Steakhouse Pie: Horseradish cream sauce with spinach, cheese, steak and asparagus
  
  
• Spicy Barbeque Steak Pizza: BBQ sauce, cheese, onion, cheddar, bacon, jalapeño.

John Gutekanst owns avalanche Pizza in athens, Ohio. he is also a speaker at International Pizza expo and a member of the world Pizza champions.

By Jeffrey Freehof
Photo by Josh Keown

It’s true that chickens can’t really fly, but their wings have been flying out the doors of pizzerias for a couple of decades now increasing in popularity year after year. We’ve seen the emergence of restaurants dedicated to wings like Wild Wings, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Stop, Wing Street and so many more. Going back 40 years, when I was a little boy in California, my dad would take my brothers and I out for a special night and we’d get chicken wings. I remember we could order them about a half dozen different ways. Today’s customers have even more options. We see gas prices rise during heavy holiday traveling time because of the demand. It’s the same way with chicken wings and the Super Bowl. Although other great foods have become part of our spread, wings remain a main attraction of our party feast!

There are different ways to buy and cook your wings. You can purchase wings either raw or cooked. You’ll find wings whole with the wing tip on or cut with the tips removed, which is my preference. Getting your wings raw is pretty basic. You have a choice in size and you can get them fresh or frozen. Then you need to decide whether you want to marinate them or just toss them in seasoning and a light breading before you fry them. When I was 16 as a fry cook in a Chinese restaurant, they marinated the wings for 24 hours and would drain them very well and then give them their first fry (no coating). This would fully cook the wings and we would then refrigerate them, but they’d still be pretty white in color. To order, we would fry them again fairly quickly and they’d get a nice crispness to them. Baking the wings is a good alternative to the first fry.

When considering purchasing cooked wings instead of raw, the variety is nearly endless and can be a bit overwhelming. When I bought my pizzerias in 1998, the original owner didn’t have any fryers but still sold a lot of oven-able wings. He bought three different varieties –– mild buffalo, spicy buffalo and teriyaki. I immediately switched to buying plain but mildly seasoned cooked wings, and when they came out of the oven we would then toss them in the same flavor choices we offered before and we added BBQ sauce as well. By doing this, we brought our inventory down to just one type of wing and were able to increase our offerings. You can toss your wings in wet marinades or sauces and can even use some dry rub style seasonings like lemon pepper or ranch seasoning. I’m always looking for great new ideas in the culinary world, especially new flavors to toss wings in, so I pay attention when I’m going out to eat –– especially when I travel –– so I can see the great innovation of other chefs.

Of course I love garlic –– after all, I named my restaurant the Garlic Clove. I was so delighted to find the best chicken wings I’ve ever had (next to my favorite sticky Chinese chicken wings) when I traveled to the Del Ray Beach Garlic Festival a year ago. Although the festival was great, I heard from someone at the festival about a restaurant around the corner called Bru’s Room Sports Grill who had on their menu grilled “Triple Threat Wings.” If you ever get to Del Ray Beach, you’ve got to try them, but if you don’t, no worries. As a chef of many years, I have learned to dissect flavors and reassemble them in my kitchen duplicating what I’ve tasted. They seem to blend their buffalo, BBQ and teriyaki sauce equally, throw in a hearty teaspoon of freshly chopped garlic and then toss in the wings. The flavor combination is just amazing, but if you’re on a date, just make sure you both have them or have some mints on hand! Just know they are worth it. It also affirms what I’ve shared with you over the years about mixing ingredients you already have to create something brand new.

You should determine what type of wings to purchase based on the size of your operation, especially when it comes to your refrigeration. Uncooked wings should always be less expensive, but handling raw poultry is one of the most critical ingredients you carry and must be stored under refrigeration at the lowest possible level (off the floor of course). Having to cook wings from a raw state can also pose problems, such as serving undercooked wings (very dangerous). Also, the possibility of over cooking them renders them undesirable.

Great, pre-cooked, lightly seasoned wings are a little more expensive. But, in the long run, they should be easier to handle and process. Offer glazes and coatings like Mild Buffalo, Spicy, Teriyaki, lemon pepper, ranch, BBQ, Honey Chipotle BBQ, Sweet and Spicy Chili glaze. Be innovative. Come up with some of your own unique flavors and make it happen. One more tip I want to share is that not everyone wants to mess with bones, so use some awesome fried tenders and glaze them in the same way to make a great alternative. Many places call them boneless wings. The opportunities are endless.

Jerk Chicken Wings

24 chicken wings, wing tips cut off, halved at the joint
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup minced jalapeño peppers
1 teaspoon black pepper
8 drops hot sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup vegetable oil

In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the chicken. Pulse to puree and liquefy.

Arrange the chicken wings in a single layer in a baking pan. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Let marinate, covered and chilled, for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Place the wings in one layer in a roasting pan. Spoon some of the marinade over the wings. Bake in a preheated 450 F oven for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve with celery sticks and trimmed whole scallions.

Jeff Freehof owns The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia. He is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today and a speaker at the Pizza Expo family of trade shows.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno Jr.

If we extend the logic that sausage is one of the most popular pizza toppings and that bacon is a pork product, then there’s no good reason why bacon shouldn’t be pursued with more vigor when an array of pizza toppings are menu listed. However, bacon can also play an important flavor role in pasta dishes, sprinkled on salads, and used effectively in sandwiches, so if you are don’t have bacon in your restaurant, it’s time you started bringing home the bacon.

Bacon, as we know it, the sliced strips that we love with eggs, has some very close relatives that need to be recognized. For example, Canadian bacon (it’s closer to ham than bacon –– lean and slightly sweet –– but it is a pork product) and pancetta. Pancetta (pahn CHEH-tah) is Italian bacon that is cured (but not smoked the way American bacon is) with salt, pepper and spices.

So when we consider the range of possibilities above, the options for expanding the flavor profile of pizza, pasta, salads and sandwiches are virtually endless.

Here are a couple of tasty tidbits relative to pancetta. If you have a BLT on your menu, why not try a PLT (pancetta, lettuce, tomato)? Simple sauté thin slices of pancetta (cut off the roll, since pancetta usually comes rolled), until just heated through and beginning to crisp up. And I will always use pancetta when making spaghetti carbonara because of its deeper flavor and it is less fatty than regular bacon.

While I am high on pancetta, there are tons of ways that regular bacon can be used and here are a few tips on how to get it right. Generally, the only time I sauté bacon is when I want some fat that I need to incorporate into a particular dish. Most other times, I use a microwave oven to prep bacon. To microwave, use a microwave safe plate and sandwich strips of bacon between layers of paper toweling. I can prep a whole lot of bacon in a very short time using a microwave oven, aAnd I can control the crispiness a lot easier using the microwave.

Of course, you can lay strips of bacon on a sheet pan and cook it in the oven (conveyor or deck, it doesn’t matter). Watch it, though, because the fat it throws off can be quite a lot. I know some restaurants that deep-dry strips of bacon. This causes the bacon to curl and get very crispy, but this method works great for crumbles to use on a salad or even as a pizza topping.

I know this may sound elementary, but you simply cannot use raw bacon as a pizza topping (it won’t cook right, and it throws off too much fat). Can you use Canadian bacon as a topping without first cooking it? Yes, but I like to dice it or cut it into chips (more coverage, less curling) and broadcast it over the pizza.

Also on the subject of Canadian bacon, there is still a great market for a Hawaiian pizza, which uses chunks of pineapple and ham, but I like to replace the ham with Canadian bacon as a topping. Here’s are a couple of recipes that are as simple as it gets.
The beauty of this pizza is the sweet and sour flavor profile. Also, this pizza works with any number of cheeses. I use provolone to enhance the smokiness. However, a blend of mozzarella works just fine. As does Asiago or fontina cheeses.

Hawaiian Pizza
Yield: One 14-inch pizza

One 14-inch pizza shell
8 ounces ground tomatoes or pizza sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces shredded provolone
½ cup diced Canadian bacon
6 ounces pineapple tidbits or chunks

Spread the sauce over the pizza shell. Sprinkle on the red pepper flakes. Add the provolone, then the bacon, followed by the pineapple. Bake and serve.


Potato, Bacon & Provolone Pizza

One 14-inch pizza shell
Yield: One 14-inch pizza
3/4 pound red skin potatoes sliced almost paper thin (about 35 slices)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Rosemary
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
6 strips bacon, cooked crisp and coarsely chopped
5 ounces shredded provolone

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, garlic and rosemary
Arrange the slices of potatoes on the pizza crust in a circle, working toward the center, overlapping the slices.

Sprinkle the parmesan over the potatoes. Sprinkle on the bacon. Add the grated provolone evenly over the crust. Bake.


Spaghetti Carbonara
Yield: 4 servings (scale up in direct proportion)

1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente, drained, kept warm
½ pound bacon, sauteed crisp, remove the bacon from the pan, drain off half the fat from the pan, coarsely chop the bacon. Reserve
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
8 ounces grated Parmesan
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Over medium-high heat, add the cooked spaghetti to the saute pan that the bacon was cooked in. Toss the pasta to coat with the bacon fat. Add the crushed garlic and pepper. Stir well. Turn the heat to medium.

In a bowl, fold the Parmesan into the beaten eggs and stir just to combine. Fold the egg and cheese mixture into the pasta, stirring quickly, until the eggs just coat the pasta, but do not scramble. Serve at once in heated pasta bowls.
Note: pancetta can be substituted for the bacon.


Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing
Yield: About 4 servings (scale up in direct proportion)

12 ounces fresh spinach, stems removed, washed, patted dry, torn
2 hard boiled eggs, each sliced into 6 pieces and set aside
8 slices bacon
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dijon-style mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
5 large white mushrooms, scrubbed, sliced

Put the spinach into a large bowl. Sauté the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and transfer to paper towels to drain.

Transfer about 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat to a small saucepan. Add the vinegar, sugar and mustard to the bacon fat. Over low heat, whisk to combine. Add salt and Add the mushrooms to the spinach. Crumble the bacon over the spinach Add the bacon dressing and toss to coat the spinach leaves. Add the slices of hard-boiled eggs.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno, Jr.

Bacon is back. In the past few months I have come across no fewer than seven food articles in which bacon played either a main role or a supporting role in various dishes. Talk about pigging out. Did you know that there was a “Bacon of the Month Club?” Now you do.

And have you heard about the “Bacon Explosion?” Two pounds of bacon get woven through and around two pounds of Italian sausage, the whole of which is slathered in barbecue sauce. Talk about going whole hog.

Bacon is loaded with flavor (“everything tastes better with bacon” is pushing the envelope, but there is some truth there), so it does have a place in many dishes and styles of food. And to expand the possibilities, consider using pancetta. The Italian version of bacon, pancetta is a cured — but not smoked — pork product that should be considered when working up dishes where the idea of pork has merit. One example would be a PLT, or pancetta, lettuce and tomato panini. Buy baby pancetta (it is sold rolled and has the shape of, say, capicolla or salami). Slice it thin, crisp it in a saute pan and use the whole round slices to make a great panini.

I am also in favor of using bacon (or pancetta) in pasta dishes. For example, one of the tastiest pasta dishes around is spaghetti carbonara. Spaghetti carbonara uses just a few ingredients – cooked bacon (or pancetta), grated Parmesan, eggs, black pepper –that when tossed with the cooked pasta makes quite an amazing and delicious dish.

And don’t forget that bacon can be used quite effectively in a salad. For example, combine fresh spinach with crisp bacon, tomatoes, and slices of hard-boiled eggs. A balsamic vinaigrette dressing completes this delicious salad.

Cooking bacon is a no-brainer, but the simplest and easiest method is to microwave it. You can prep a whole lot of bacon in a short amount of time this way. If you do that, be sure to keep the cooked bacon in the cooler or prep table (covered). Even though it is cooked, bacon can go over the hill real fast, so I recommend you not cook more than you need for, say, four days.

On the other hand, if you need the fat that is rendered from the cooking of the bacon, use a saute pan and fry away. Or lay the bacon on a sheet pan and cook it in the deck oven (conveyor oven works too, but the grease splatters really do a number on the oven). There is also the possibility of deep-frying the bacon, should you want it extra crisp to use, say, as crumbles on a salad. The deep-frying does take most of the fat out, which you can take two ways: healthier, but with a loss of flavor.

So there’s an idea, thinking about that “Pork Explosion.” What about the possibility of using bacon and Italian sausage together as a pizza topping. Got a name for it? No. I do. “Pork Pie.”


Pork (Pizza) Pie
I have to admit right up front that this pizza is not low on calories or fat, but when it comes to flavor there is nothing quite like it.

Makes one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 14-inch pizza shell
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
10 ounces ground pork
2 teaspoons ground fennel
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, then chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
8 ounces ground tomatoes or tomato puree
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

Spread the mozzarella over the crust up to 1/2-inch of the edge.

Mix the ground pork with the fennel, salt, pepper and press into a patty that is about 12-inches in diameter (in other words, very thin). Put the pork patty on top of the cheese.

Sprinkle the cooked and chopped bacon over the pork. Ladle on the tomatoes. Sprinkle the Romano cheese evenly over the tomatoes. Bake.

Bacon and Spinach Pizza

You will note that in this recipe I use the half-and-half cheese method – half the cheese directly on the crust, then add the toppings and finish with the remaining cheese. No tomatoes are used on this pizza. This method gives the pizza a lot more eye appeal since the toppings are visible. This pizza falls into the “Signature” category of pizzas. In other words, because it is made with premium ingredients you can charge a bit more. Your customers will agree, once they have had a slice or two, that this pizza is worth an extra buck or two.

Makes one 12-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 12-inch pizza shell
1/4 pound bacon, cooked until crisp and broken into pieces
8 ounces 50/50 blend mozzarella and provolone
½ pound (about) fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, sliced
10-12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh garlic
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Spread half the cheese blend over the rolled out crust. Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the cheese.

Lay the sliced fresh tomatoes evenly over the cheese.

Spread the spinach leaves evenly over the bacon and tomatoes.

Drizzle the olive oil over the spinach, followed by the chopped fresh garlic.

Sprinkle on the remaining 4 ounces of cheese, followed by the toasted pine nuts.
Bake.

By Pasquale "Pat" Bruno Jr.

Canadian bacon is not bacon at all –– it is ham. Canadian bacon is made from the ribeye of the pork loin (eye of the loin). In the United States, pork belly becomes the cut most often used to make Canadian bacon. In Canada, Canadian bacon is known as "back bacon."

I am aware of the fact that a number of pizzerias list Canadian bacon as an optional topping, but, unfortunately, that is where it comes to a screeching halt, and it shouldn't. There are many ways to use Canadian bacon, as you will see from the recipes that follow. So if you are already using Canadian bacon in your operation, explore using it even more.

The basic idea behind all of this is that you can and should use Canadian bacon as you would ham. When I was doing work in Spain and Mexico, one of the best selling pizzas was a Hawaiian pizza. The combination of ham and pineapple is highly favored in Latin countries: smoky meets tangy sweet, and that result equals real enjoyment.

At first, the idea of pineapple in conjunction with a tomato-based pizza sauce seems a bit strange, but it works quite nicely. However, if you are not tuned into the Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple) idea, try the recipes that follow where Canadian bacon is used in a number of delicious ways.

A few thoughts:

• When using pineapple to make a Hawaiian pizza, use pineapple chunks, not slices. Slices might look better on the pizza, but normal slicing of the baked pizza poses problems (the pineapple slices tends to slide hither and yon, and some slices might end up with a big portion of pineapple, while other slices get short shrift).

• When using Canadian bacon as a topping, slices (depending on size) can be put on whole. However, by dicing the bacon, or cutting the slices into quarters, you will get more coverage overall.

• Hawaiian pizza made with a 14-inch pizza shell will require about 6 to 8 ounces of Canadian bacon, and 8 to 10 ounces of pineapple chunks. Try the following recipe. The idea here is put the pineapple chunks on top of the cheese, not buried underneath the cheese. This allows the heat of the oven to give the pineapple a slightly charred look, which enhances the flavor tremendously. It is not that we want the pineapple to glaze, since that would require it being basted (or sautéed) with sugar; instead, we want the pineapple to be heated through to enhance its sweet and smoky flavors. Experiment with different size pineapple chunks until you get to where you want to be.

Hawaiian Pizza

14-inch pizza shell

6 ounces seasoned pizza sauce

8 ounces shredded mozzarella

6 ounces Canadian bacon, diced or sliced

8 ounces pineapple chunk


Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella. Add the Canadian bacon followed by the pineapple chunks. Bake.

Canadian Bacon Pizza with Spinach & Mushrooms

14-inch pizza shell

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 ounces coarsely chopped Canadian bacon

8 ounces domestic mushrooms, sliced about 1/8-inch thick

4 ounces fresh baby spinach

6 ounces seasoned pizza sauce

8 ounces shredded mozzarella

2 ounces grated Parmesan

Basic Prep (can be held one day): In a sauté pan, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the Canadian bacon and sauté only until the bacon begins to take on a light crisp.

Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until the mushrooms lose most of their moisture and begin to firm up.

Add the spinach leaves and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the leaves just begin to wilt.

• Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the crust. Add the reserved spinach and Canadian bacon mixture. Add the mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake.

CB& Frittata Panini

Yield: 4 large panini

This tasty panini is easy to make and quite delicious. Once the frittata has been made, it can be held for 2-3 hours at room temperature. To order, the panini is assembled and put in the panini press. Also, the frittata part can be made ahead and put in the cooler and stored covered for up to 3 days.

To make the frittata

8 extra-large eggs

4 tablespoons skim milk

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

6 ounces diced Canadian bacon

1/2 cup diced roasted red bell peppers

1/2 cup diced Roma or plum tomatoes

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella and provolone blend

8 slices panini-style bread*

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, skim milk, and mustard. Whisk to blend. Add the Canadian bacon, bell peppers, tomatoes and cheese blend. Stir well to combine the ingredients.

Pour the egg mixture into a lightly greased (or sprayed) baking pan that measures about 9 inches x 9 inches. Bake in a 375 F oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the eggs are set and there is firmness to the frittata when pressed with your finger.

Allow the frittata to cool for about 20 minutes. Turn it out of the pan and cut into 4 equal squares. Place each square between two slices of panini-style bread. Put the sandwich into a panini press to toast the bread. If you don't have a panini press, toast the bread in the oven.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno Jr.

The assignment: How to Make Sausage for Pizza. What kind of sausage? That would be my first question. Italian? Well, the assignment did use the word “pizza,” so I am assuming it’s Italian sausage. But wait. There are as many versions of Italian sausage as there are regions in Italy. Not a problem (not that I am going to give you 20 different recipes, however). But I will give you two that I find work just great.

Simple to make? Somewhat, yes. Simple because the way this works is that these are bulk sausage recipes, not link Italian sausage recipes. Bulk sausage doesn’t require that you go through the lengthy process of having to buy sausage casing, rinsing them, using a stuffer or sausage attachment to fill the casing. You wouldn’t be using link sausage on a pizza anyway.
There are, however a few safety rules to be followed when making sausage. First, you will be working with pork, so you need to be aware of cross contamination. I always use disposable gloves when working with pork. Make sure any of the equipment – – chopping boards, bowls, plates, pans, spoons, spreaders, etc. –– are cleaned and sanitized after being in contact with pork.

Once those precautions are taken, the rest of the sausage making process is a breeze. You can grind fresh pork butt for your Italian sausage. The pork butt should have at least 25 percent fat to lean meat (a cut called Boston butt has a good fat to lean ratio and works perfectly). A 70/30 lean to fat ratio works even better.

Here are some further tips:

• The equipment needed to grind your own pork is but one piece, a manual grinder (I use a counter model made of cast iron. It can grind three or four pounds a minute). Or you can buy freshly ground pork and get right at it with some proper seasonings.

• I love sausage that includes fennel. Fennel and pork are a marriage made in ta heaven. However, if fennel is not to your taste, leave it out.

• “Sweet or mild sausage” indicates that no red pepper flakes (aka crushed red pepper) are used in the mix.

• “Hot Sausage” implies red pepper flakes. Now you adjust the heat relative to how much red pepper flakes used. Black pepper works in a similar fashion. A little or a lot relative to how you wish the heat level to come out.

• Garlic as an ingredient or not is up to you and probably where you live. East Coast and Midwest Italian sausage could very well include garlic, but again it depends on the manufacturer (some of the big users in the Chicago area will specify a certain sausage

blend to be used for their pizza). Ground fresh garlic would be a good choice, followed by garlic salt. However be very careful how much garlic salt you use to avoid a really bitter aftertaste once the sausage is cooked. Should you feel the urge to get very creative, there is an Italian sausage called luganega. Luganega is a mild country sausage (made mostly in the North of Italy) that includes pork, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and coriander. This sausage has an endearing and distinct flavor.

One more idea: You can replace the ground pork with ground turkey if you wish to shout about a healthier sausage alternative. And by adding the fennel seeds, you create (somewhat) the taste illusion of pork. The one problem with turkey sausage is the lean to fat ratio (not enough fat), so the sausage cooks up rather dry. When using turkey sausage I do not put it on the pizza raw; rather I cook it first and crumble it into chunks.

Once you have made the sausage you can cook it in pieces or chunks as you see fit for further use. Also, keep in mind that after you have mixed any of the recipes below, it’s a good idea to pinch off a piece or two of the sausage and sauté it to test the flavor profile. Adding more seasoning is easy, but taking seasoning away is virtually impossible.

Italian Sausage Recipe No. 1
Makes about 2 pounds of fresh Italian sausage (scale up in direct proportion)
The red wine vinegar in this recipe gives the sausage a bit more moisture along with an
interesting taste kick.
2 pounds ground pork (70/30 lean to fat ratio)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons ground fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Mix all the ingredients together and you have Italian sausage! You can refrigerate it,
covered, up to three days. It seems to get better with a little ageing, at least overnight.
Pizza Sausage Recipe No. 2

Makes about 10 pounds of sausage (scale up in direct proportion)
10 pounds ground pork
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1½ teaspoons ground black pepper
1/4 cup paprika ½ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoon fennel seeds
1½ teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Place the ground pork into a large bowl. Season with salt, garlic salt, black pepper
and paprika. In a blender or food processor, blend the oil, fennel seeds, ground fennel

seeds and red pepper flakes. Mix everything into the ground pork until well blended.
Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno Jr.

What’s it going to be for that meat lover’s pizza? Three meats? Four meats? Five meats? Be careful –– don’t turn that pizza into a meat casserole or a grease trap.

Common sense must prevail when putting together a meat lover’s pizza. Balance is also a key issue, as more is not always better. What exactly does the idea of a Meat Lover’s pizza imply? In some instances, it is simply a lot more meat –– double the usual amount in some instances. But be aware that too much of a good thing just might offend the sensibilities of the customer instead of attracting them.

But (and this is one big but) where is it written that a meat lover’s pizza has to have three, four, five different kinds of meat? Why can’t a meat lover’s pizza have but one or two meats and still make the grade (pepperoni and sausage continue to remain the most popular toppings). For example, why can’t we call it Steak Lover’s pizza? People love steak, steak is meat. Presto! Meat Lover’s pizza. Or how about using ground and seasoned beef. People love a good hamburger, so it would seem to me that this would work.

Ok, there is room for compromise here, so let’s take a look at a meat lover’s pizza that uses several different meats and then a couple of pizzas that use either one or two meats.
Knowing that sausage is one of the most popular pizza toppings, we need to go with sausage that has been precooked to avoid a lot of excess fat. But it’s not just about sausage alone. The same considerations should apply for most meats — steak, ground beef, ground turkey, ground lamb and pancetta. Exceptions being, say, meatballs (which would be precooked anyway), prosciutto, and ham (which is precooked or smoked). The point of all this is to eliminate as much fat as possible.

One example of a meat lover’s pizza uses four different meats: chips of ham, cooked bacon, cooked crumbles of Italian sausage and pepperoni. Using this combination of meats will result in a very flavorful pizza that will not end up being a greasy mess.
Another four-meat combination for a Meat Lover’s pizza would be prosciutto (trim some of the fat off the edges and cut the slices into strips), cooked ground beef crumbles, cooked bacon and pepperoni.

I also make a meat-lover’s pizza that is a bestseller, and it includes sausage and meatballs. For this pizza I used cooked meatballs (a 2-ounce meatball is just about the right size). I cut the meatballs in half and arrange them –– cut side down –– on top of tomatoes. Next I sprinkle cooked Italian sausage crumbles around the meatballs. Next I add a combination of shredded mozzarella and provolone, but I use less cheese than normal (about 6 ounces for a 14-inch pizza) so as to not cover the meatballs totally (the effect of the dome of the meatballs with the cheese melting around them is quite appetizing). A sprinkle of Romano cheese over the top is the “frosting” on this delicious pizza.

Steak & Mushroom Pizza
Makes one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 14-inch pizza shell
8 ounces all-purpose ground tomatoes (or your pizza sauce)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire or steak sauce
5 ounces grilled or cooked flank steak, shredded or thinly sliced
1 cup (about) sliced fresh mushrooms
8 ounces shredded mozzarella (or combination of mozzarella and provolone)

Combine the tomatoes with the Worcestershire sauce. Set aside. Cook the steak to medium rare. (Both of these steps are done ahead for prep).

To order, spread the sauce over the pizza shell. Add the steak evenly over the tomatoes. Spread the mushrooms over the steak. Sprinkle on the cheese. Bake.

Beef & Pork Picadillo Pizza 

Picadillo implies some type of shredded meat or poultry. I am using a combination of meats to create a very flavorful Meat Lover’s pizza.

Makes one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 pound ground round
1/4 pound ground pork
½ cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed
6 ounces all-purpose ground tomatoes or tomato puree
8 ounces shredded provolone
2 teaspoons dried oregano

In a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the onion, bell pepper, ground round and ground pork. Cook and stir until the meat is no longer red, about 4 minutes. Drain the fat from the pan.

Add the olives, cilantro and capers and tomatoes to the sauté pan. Cook and stir to blend and reduce any excess moisture from the tomatoes (about 3-4 minutes). (This is your prep. You can make big batches ahead and keep it on the pizza prep table).

To order, spread the tomato and meat mixture over the crust. Sprinkle on the provolone cheese. Sprinkle on the oregano. Bake.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno, Jr

I suppose it would be ridiculous of me to say that the two most important ingredients in that delicious antipasti called prosciutto and melon are actually the prosciutto and melon!

It’s not that ridiculous, actually, because it really does matter as to the kind of prosciutto and the kind of melon you use. While there is a swing between honeydew melon (my first choice) and cantaloupe, there is no compromise on the prosciutto. The prosciutto has to be prosciutto di Parma: subtly sweet, silky texture, remarkably distinct flavor. There is nothing quite like prosciutto di Parma.

Two more considerations are needed to make this antipasto all it should be: The melon needs to be fresh and dead ripe, and the prosciutto must be sliced almost paper thin. After that it’s, so to speak, a piece of cake to serve this appetizer, one that has wide appeal.

What is the fascination with this delicious antipasto, one that Italian restaurants (lately, a number of contemporary American restaurants have jumped on the P&M bandwagon, too) have been serving for years? It’s a fact that one of the most popular pizza toppings in Latin countries — Spain and Mexico, in particular — is pineapple and ham (also known as Hawaiian pizza in some cases). Well, prosciutto is ham, and there is a sweetness to melon that is not too dissimilar to pineapple. Presto! A beautiful coupling of two distinct flavors. Another nice feature of this antipasto is that there’s no cooking involved.

The usual method of serving P&M is to lay thin slices of prosciutto over wedges of melon. That works just fine, and I have seen it done in some ways that is downright fashionable. For example, cut the melon (seeded and peeled) into wedges that are about ¾- (three-fourths) inches at the base. Set the wedges on a chilled plate with a space of about ½-inch (one half) between each wedge. Now drape the thinly sliced prosciutto over the melon wedges, letting the prosicutto fold itself gently into the space between the melon wedges. Serve with wedges of fresh lime.

Another method is to cut the peeled and seeded melon into one-inch cubes. Cut the slices of prosciutto into strips. Wrap a strip of prosciutto around each cube and insert a toothpick into the melon. With this method I like to serve the P&M on a long and narrow plate with wedges of fresh lime.

Then there’s the idea of using P&M as part of a salad. In some restaurants I have seen some very interesting and flavorful combinations. For example, consider pairing thin shavings (use a potato peeler to shave the flesh of the melon) of honeydew or cantaloupe with baby arugula and a light balsamic vinegar dressing.


Prosciutto & Melon Salad
Makes one serving (scale up in direct proportion)


1 cup fresh arugula, patted dry
2 wedges of honeydew melon, seeded, peeled, cut into ½-inch cubes
2 thin slices of prosciutto di Parma, each slice cut into 2 strips, lengthwise
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice

Arrange the arugula in the center of a chilled plate. Place the cubes of melon around the base of the arugula. Criss-cross the strips of prosciutto over the arugula. Drizzle the olive oil and the fresh lemon juice over the salad. Serve.

By Pasquale "Pat" Bruno Jr.

Considering the fact that sausage is the second most popular pizza topping, it’s interesting that all too often we take this major money maker for granted. And because sausage is one of the most popular topping requests, we should be doubly sure that we are doing the right thing.
The “right thing,” in this instance, is the right sausage –– the sausage that gets the job done, the sausage that adds flavor, the sausage that totally enhances the total pizza eating experience.
What sausage would that be? Let’s find out. I am not here to try and convince you to use a sausage that’s different than the one you’re using now, especially if your customers are in love with your sausage pizza. But what if you have been having second thoughts about the sausage you are using? What if you are just starting out in the business? What if the distributor that supplies your sausage is changing to a different brand, and you are not satisfied? Or what if you simply want to shake things up a bit by trying something a little different?

Let’s first take a look at the different styles and types of Italian sausage. In Chicago I see just about every type of Italian sausage you can imagine. Mild, sweet, hot. Fennel, no fennel. Pepper, no pepper. Spicy, not spicy. Coarse-ground, fine-ground, chunks, patties, pinched, raw, precooked. Grind your own? Whew! Bulk, patty, link, rope? Frozen, refrigerated, fresh? That’s a lot to deal with.
Let’s narrow things down a bit by posing a few questions: Is the sausage going on the pizza raw or precooked? Do you want the pizza to show a chunky sausage or something a little finer? Are you considering a sausage patty (as used in most Chicago restaurants that serve deep-dish pizza)?

What about the fat-lean ratio? When putting the sausage on the pizza raw (instead of pre-cooked), I favor a ground product that is about 80-85 percent pork and 15-20 percent fat. This ratio allows for enough fat to develop a good flavor, but not so much fat that it makes the pizza greasy. And, relative to food costs, less fat equals a higher price (more fat, lower price).
Putting sausage on raw, safety issues aside, can cause a few problems relative to speed (raw sausage sticks to your fingers) and messiness.
I have noticed that more and more restaurants are using precooked sausage. And there are a number of reasons for this, including: safety in handling and overall usage; consistency; the ability to specify the chunk or style you want to use; the shelf life is longer; and the fat/grease problem is practically eliminated. On the other hand, there are a good number of operators who swear that the only way to really punch up the sausage flavor of pizza is to start with raw sausage.

Sausage crumbles (tiny pieces of sausage) are my least favorite. You get more coverage, but you get less flavor. There’s not a whole lot to bite into, and there isn’t much for the teeth and taste buds to get acquainted with when using small crumbles.
You and you alone have the final say relative to the Italian sausage you want to use. For example, if you want to put forth a healthier approach for your customers, you can still offer a sausage topping, just go with a sausage that has less fat and more lean pork. Choose carefully, though, because most of your customers will judge the worth of your pizza relative to the sausage you use.
Testing the product is a good idea before you order a lot and find out that it doesn’t work for you. To determine if a raw sausage product works for you, first cook some off in a sauté pan (do not add any oil to the pan) and see how much fat is thrown off. Taste for flavor and texture. Also, determine the amount of shrinkage, because this is how it will ultimately end up once the pizza is cooked. When testing a pre-cooked product do the same thing. Cook some off to develop the flavor. Check for shrinkage. Taste.
When putting raw sausage on a pizza here’s an important tip. Pinch each piece between the thumb and forefinger as it goes on the pizza. This will insure even and thorough cooking.
Should you wish to explore sausage options other than Italian, there are plenty of possibilities, such as turkey or chicken sausage (healthier implications), andouille (for a Cajun-Creole pizza spin) and lamb sausage (for a Greek or Mediterranean approach)


Classic Sausage Pizza

In simplicity lies goodness. There is nothing new or fancy about this recipe, but it is quite delicious. Use good tomatoes, good sausage, and good cheese. Presto! Great sausage pizza.

1 14-inch pizza shell
6 ounces all-purpose ground tomatoes
8 ounce blend shredded mozzarella and provolone
¾ (three-fourth) pound mild or sweet Italian sausage with fennel seed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Spread the tomatoes evenly over the crust (this is less tomatoes than you are used to using, but go with it). Sprinkle on the cheese blend. Pinch pieces of the sausage and flatten between your thumb and forefinger. Place sausage over the cheese evenly, pressing the chunks into the cheese a bit. Sprinkle on the oregano. Bake.
After the pizza comes out of the oven, and just before sending it out, drizzle on the olive oil.

Note: If using precooked sausage, the method is the same. Use a version called “Pinched Italian Sausage.” It has a pleasing chunky appearance and is fully flavored.

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno Jr.

Vitello parmigiana, veal parmigiana, or veal Parmesan? Take your pick as to which wording you want to use to list this classic dish on your menu since all of them will serve your customers well — as long as you make it great. You have to admit, though, that Vitello Parmigiana has a certain ring to it.

The idea behind any member of the parmigiana family –– veal, chicken, eggplant –– has to do with the goodness of the ingredients essential to make the dish what it is. It starts, of course, with the main ingredient (the veal) followed by a good sauce and a couple of cheeses, namely mozzarella and Parmesan. Are there variations on this theme to be considered? Yes, quite emphatically, there are. Those variations and subtle changes are what help to intensify the popularity of Italian food overall.

For example, choosing to bread the veal or not. And what kind of breading? Fresh bread crumbs? Packaged bread crumbs? Bread crumbs that have been jazzed up with herbs? Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)?

Choosing a certain sauce (as long as it’s a red sauce) then comes into play. A simple sauce of ground tomatoes? A seasoned pizza sauce? A spicy sauce?

The possibility of blending a few cheeses beyond the usual mozzarella and Parmesan? By its very name –– Parmesan or Parmigiano –– the essence of the dish calls for that cheese to be used. However, there is nothing wrong with blending, say, Parmesan and Romano, which would give the dish an extra kick of flavor.

Also, I find there is nothing unusual about blending mozzarella and provolone to add a certain zest to the dish. When it comes to the cheeses, however, I find all to often that many restaurants use too much cheese, which in effect blankets the veal to the point where the veal does not stand out the way it should. So use restraint when it comes to laying on the cheeses; balance is the key to goodness of this dish. More is not better. Too much sauce and too much cheese results in a soupy mess that is hardly representative of a well made Vitello Parmigiana.

Try this basic recipe on for size, and then I will add a few more ideas and pointers for you to ponder –– pointers that will also serve you well, for your chicken and eggplant Parmigiana, should you choose to add those to your menu (or improve what you already have).

Vitello Parmigiana
Yield: 6 servings (Scale up in direct proportion)

6 boneless veal cutlets, each about 6 ounces
3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
4 cups bread crumbs (I use Panko)
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup (or more) all-purpose flour
11/2 cups olive oil
2 cups marinara or pizza sauce
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
12 ounces shredded mozzarella

One by one, put the cutlets between sheets of foil or parchment paper and pound with a meat pounder (or rolling pin) until each is about 1/4-inch thick. Set aside.

In a large shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. In a separate shallow dish, mix the breadcrumbs with the Romano cheese and the chopped parsley.

Coat each piece of veal with flour on both sides, shaking off the excess. Now dip the cutlet in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off back into the dish. Next press the veal into the breadcrumb mixture, pressing down, to set the crumbs into the veal on both sides. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

Using a medium-size skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (see tip below), add the veal cutlets, one or two at a time, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, turning once, until brown and crisp. Set the cutlets on paper towels to drain.

For each serving, place a cutlet in an individual baking/serving dish. Portion some of the sauce over and around the veal. Sprinkle on a portion of the grated Parmesan, followed by 2 ounces of the mozzarella (can be made up to this point and held).

Bake in the oven or set the dish under the broiler until the cheese is melted and speckled brown.

Cook’s Notes: To make sure the oil is hot, cut a small piece off one end of the cutlet (after the bread crumb step in the recipe) and drop it in the oil to determine if the oil is hot enough. The test piece should brown gently without burning. Or, you can deep-fry the cutlets in the fryer, with the oil set at around 350 F.

When it comes to breadcrumbs, I like to use panko because it is made from bread without crusts, and that allows for a crispier, lighter texture than regular breadcrumbs.
To make your own breadcrumbs, simply trim the crusts off day-old bread. Cut the bread into chunks and process in a food processor until the crumbs are coarse. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and run through the oven for a few minutes until the crumbs get light and toasty-brown. At this point you can flavor the crumbs with herbs –– dried oregano, basil–– if you choose.

Also, keep in mind that the process for doing chicken Parmigiana is basically the same as for veal. Pound boneless chicken breast to an even thickness (to insure even cooking), then proceed the same as with the veal.

On the other hand, eggplant Parmigiana, that other delicious member of the Parmigiana family, involves an entirely different process, especially as it pertains to the cooking of the eggplant and the breading process, so I will cover all that another time.