Nothing makes a pizza more Italian than authentic Italian meats. Sincetomatoes and mozzarella are a given, it’s meat pizza toppings like pancetta andproscuitto that can really boost the flavor of an Italian-style pizza.
Not long ago, it wasn’t that easy to find these products. But these days,many grocery stores like Fresh and Easy and Trader Joe’s carry them. So you canmake a delicious Italian pizza right at home.
Pancetta, which is often referred to as Italian bacon, is pork belly thathas been spiced, salt-cured, and dried for several months. But unlike Americanbacon, it’s not smoked. In Italy, it’s often rolled and then thinly sliced. Inthe United States and Britain, it’s often sold diced.
Because pancetta is salty, it’s especially delicious when combined withsweet pizza toppings. Try is with ripe pear or butternut squash.
Prosciutto is uncooked Italian ham. It’s also cured with salt and aged. Someprosciutto has the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) which dictates how itis produced and what ingredients can be used.
The most famous is Prosciutto di Parma. The pigs here are fed whey left overfrom making Parmigiano-Regianno cheese, which gives the prosciutto a slightlynutty flavor. If you travel around Italy, you’ll notice that each region’sprosciutto has a distinctive taste.
Usually, a pork leg is covered with sea salt and left to cure for a coupleof months in a cool place. After that, it’s washed and left to dry. Once it’sdry, it’s hung for up to two years in a well-ventilated place.
Prosciutto pizza
In Italy, it’s called prosciutto crudo or “raw ham” because it’s not cooked.It’s often eaten as an appetizer with melon, breadsticks, asparagus, or freshmozzarella. Or used in pasta dishes with peas and a cream sauce. Saltimbocca,which is veal topped with prosciutto, sage, and cheese, is one of Rome’sbest loved dishes.
Prosciutto is one of the pizza toppings on a Pizza Capricciosa, which alsohas mushrooms, artichokes, and olives. It’s also excellent with nutty cheeseslike Fontina and Gruyere.
Less well known outside Italy, guanciale is unsmoked Italian bacon made frompork jowls or cheeks. To make it, the pork is rinsed in wine, seasoned and leftto marinate for over a month. Like prosciutto, it’s left to dry, but unlikeprosciutto, it’s meant to be cooked.
Prosciutto
There aren’t many places outside of Rome that sell guanciale, but if youhave a good Italian butcher, you can ask. You can also order it online. If youhave guanciale, render it in a pan before using it as a pizza topping, and thesave the drippings and make something fabulous with them. It’s extremely highin fat, but since even a small amount adds a tremendous amount of flavor, itwon’t bust your diet completely.
You can also make your own if have access to pork jowls and are willing towait three weeks.
Its rich, pork flavor is the cornerstone of dishes like Spaghetti allaCarbonara and Bucatini all’Amatricana, though pancetta is oftensubstituted.
Read more about Italian pizzas here. And find more pizzameats here.
Pancetta Image Flickr: tsuacctntProscuitto PizzaImage Flickr: stuspivakProscuitto Image Flickr: mandydale