I have an authentic Minestrone recipe that starts with sauteed pancetta, and it is very good. The salt pork I buy is in 12 oz. blocks. I make my own pasta sauces and one of them starts with small slices of salt pork sauteed in olive oil, which is discarded once the fat is rendered. I worked for an Italian guy whose mother would fry pork chops (then use them for something else) to get her pasta sauce started. Of course, in that community at that point in time, "pork chops" might not be what you & I think they are, huh? Where is @Tony Page? I believe he's an Italian boy who's got an opinion on this subject.
John, Sorry to take so long to get back to you. Far as minestrone soup goes we don't make it that often, it's my fault because I don't eat a lot of vegetables. I can tell you that there are as many versions as there are regions in Italy. Both our families made it without meat it was strictly a vegetable minestrone, they did use chicken broth. I have seen recipes where pancetta, salt pork, pork hock, hambone, and spare ribs were used. When it comes to tomato sauce (Gravy) there are many versions also, you can have different tastes & texture. We use Tomato Sauce, Whole Tomatoes, Crushed Tomatoes, Plum Tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, Fresh Tomatoes from the garden, we use any combination of these sauces. My personal favorite sauce is one we use to make when we had a large Harvest of tomatoes. We'd first wash and cut up the tomatoes, then put them through this great juicer we had made by Oster, which remove the skin and seeds. The juice was then put in a ginormous pot on the stove and boiled down, then cooled, then put into serving size containers and Frozen. To sweeten a tomatoe sauce, some version of pork is the key. We use sausage, browned boneless pork ribs, or Pork braciole. We also will use brownef beef chunks, or meatballs in the sauce. When we fry Meatballs or Pork that oil is used to start the tomato sauce. For my taste buds we do not add the meatballs to the sauce until just before we put the water on for the pasta, I like a firmer meatball. The meat can be added once the sauce is season and cooking. It will absorb the flavor of the sauce and be Fall-A-Part tender. I haven't started the sauce in many years when I one I was cooking I found before adding your meat to the sauce boil it for a few minutes this in my opinion removes some of the acid. We do not use tomato puree we find it too heavy and acidity. Any combination of the above ingredients will give you different tastes different texture, we like that so that each Sunday the sauce can be a little different than the one before.
@Tony Page Thanks, buddy. The minestrone recipes I've used have been nothing but some variation of beans and tomato product, flavored with either ham hocks or smoked pork neck bones (both of which are always on hand in my freezer.) Maybe that recipe with pancetta tasted more authentic because each bowl is finished with a drizzle of olive oil, a little fresh parsley, and some fresh grated parm reggiano. So very good... Regarding your meatball advice: I agree to keep them out of the sauce until serving, unless I plan on making subs with them, in which case I like them mushy so I can squish them down. There is the hole-in-the-wall pizza place outside of DC that's been there since the 50s, and they make the best meatball subs. They keep their meatballs in a pot of hot water so they can be smashed flat on the roll before being sauced and thrown in the oven. When I moved, I would drive back to visit friends and I'd buy a supply of subs to take home and put in the freezer. Regarding putting up sauce...that's an interesting take on how to process tomatoes. I may give it a shot. I have only one San Marzano plant, but man is that single plant putting out fruit!! If processing the tomatoes is that easy, I might plant an entire crop next year.
I make my own pizzas (my crust rises in the fridge for 3 days), but have never heard of cowboy pizza.
I used to make my pizzas when I had my wood cookstove and also an outdoor wood-fired oven that actually smoked the pizzas. A cowboy pizza here in ranch country has ground beef sausage, seasoned beef sausage thin slices, and thin-sliced beef marinated, a spicy tomato garlic sauce, refried beans over the sauce, 3 types of cheese, sauteed onions, mushrooms, olives, and tomato slices on top. Lots of topping and my favorite is with the thin cracker crust.
For meatball sandwiches it's a whole different ball game I agree with you. I love them after being fried and in the cool-down process I can eat them all day.
I've never heard of a cowboy pizza, either. I must say, refried beans on pizza sounds like it should be a federal offense.
We're having plates from a local Luby's cafeteria. I'm having their breaded cod filet, new potatoes, and sauteed cabbage with bacon. Yesterday I made a cherry cheesecake so we'll have some of that for dessert.
Try it and you will be smitten. Seriously, a thin layer on top of the sauce is the bomb. I have made pizza with just sauce, refried beans, and cheddar cheese. When I kept friends kids, many years ago, they always wanted this pizza. If I was too lazy to make a crust, I just used a large tortilla.
I might have to try that. And I, too, like a thin crust. I always divide a single crust recipe and make 2 pizzas out of it.
I was just saying that my attempt at making an Arthur Treacher's knock-off did not go so well, but there's no place around here to get a deep fried breaded cod fillet. IHOP had a decent one (since they got deep fryers), but have scaled back their menu and it's no longer offered. I'll bet Luby's is good.
That's funny. I do the same thing, and I add marjoram to them (I picked that up from a Fried Trout & Mushrooms recipe.) Otherwise, they are flavorless. I also low-fry or microwave the pepperoni to render some of the fat out so the thing's not so greasy.
No, thanks. I'll stick with the traditional Italian pizza. All the stuff you're using just sounds like a tostada on pizza crust, lol.