[1] Extra cheese, please! (photo © Mountain Mike’s Pizza | Newport Beach, California).

[2] Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the U.S. (photo © Polina Tankilevitch | Pexels).

[3] Handmade pepperoni (photo © DeLallo).

[4] Got pepperoni? Use the extra to garnish a Bloody Mary (here with blue cheese cubes at Murray’s Cheese Bar).

[5] As with any meat, there are OK, good, and great qualities of pepperoni. Check out some of our favorites below (photo © DeLallo).

[6] Quality pepperoni makes a big difference (photo © DiBruno Bros).

September 20th is National Pepperoni Pizza Day, and we have a surprise for you:

Pepperoni is a cured dry sausage from…not from Italy!

While there are a number of spicy, dry sausages from different regions of Italy, there is no such thing as pepperoni.

For the authentic Italian sausages that inspired it, take a look at soppressata, from Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria; and salsiccia Napoletana piccante, from Naples.

More than a few foods we think of as authentic Italian are actually Italian-American, such as:

 
TIP #1: Freeze a stick of pepperoni slightly, then grate onto pasta, pizza, salads, burgers, sandwiches, etc.

TIP #2: Treat yourself to some super-premium pepperoni. Check out the producers below.

> The year’s 16 pizza holidays.

> The year’s 16 sausage holidays.

> The history of pizza.

> Different types of pizza: 40 ways to eat your slice.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PEPPERONI

Although we can’t point to its origin, pepperoni seems to first appear in the U.S. the early 1900s, when Italian-American butcher shops made a variety of sausages.

The first known print reference appears in 1919 [source].

If you see the word peperoni in Italian (with a single “p”), it’s actually the word for bell peppers.

Perhaps the name for the the red-hued, paprika-spiced sausage was inspired by red bell peppers; we just don’t know.

We do know that in Italian, there is no word related to peperoni that indicates anything but those peppers.
 
 
Pepperoni Is American!

The pepperoni sausage that we eat in America (with two “p’s”) is an American creation.

Traditionally made from a combination of finely-ground pork and beef, it’s a cured meat variation of salami that is made by combining finely-ground pork and beef, seasoned with cayenne, garlic, fennel, mustard seeds and/or paprika, and stuffed into a casing.

(Halal/kosher pepperoni is all beef, and there is also turkey “pepperoni.”)

Pepperoni was created by Italian-American butchers about a century. No one can pinpoint when and where, but it was available at the beginning of the 1900.

“Pepperoni” was first mentioned in print in the U.S. Government’s Yearbook of Agriculture in 1894, called “a dry sausage.”

It was not until the World War I that the word came into common use for a sausage†, within Italian-American communities. The first known use of the word in print in New York City is in 1919 [source].

Different producers use different levels of spices, that can include fennel seeds, garlic, hot chiles or cayenne, mustard seeds and/or paprika.

The sausages are then air-dried (cured). The result: a lightly smoky, sausage, relatively soft and reddish.

The red color is provided by the paprika and any other type of chile (e.g. cayenne), plus the sodium nitrite used as a curing agent.
 
 
WHAT ABOUT PEPPERONI PIZZA?

Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the U.S.: More than 35% of all pizzas ordered are topped with it* (source).

However, pepperoni pizza as we know it is almost never served in Italy, except, perhaps in tourist areas [source].

Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of the pizza oven, called “cupping” in the business. The thicker the slices, the more the edges curl. Under the heat of the oven, the slices give off slicks of orange grease.

Pepperoni sausages are commonly sold in two sizes: an inch in diameter for pizza and two to three inches in diameter for sandwiches. You can buy whole “sticks,” slices, even chopped.
 
 
“GOURMET” PEPPERONI

If your palate seeks something beyond supermarket pepperoni, check out:

 
They’re nice gifts for a pepperoni lover.
 
 
________________

*The “Top 10” pizza toppings, in order: pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage, bacon, extra cheese, black olives, green peppers, pineapple spinach [source].

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Chef Jamie Oliver calls the recipe below (photo #1) a picnic pie, because it’s so easy to transport and serve at picnics or other outdoor events.

Picnic season may be just past, but this recipe uses ingredients that are available year-round.

With the popularity of chicken pot pie in the U.S.,
 
MEAT PIE HISTORY

Meat “pie” has been made since man first used a wrapper to keep in the juices of cooking meat. Evidence dates back to the Neolithic Period, around 9500 B.C.E., but it’s not a pie we would recognize today.

Pastry was perfected by the ancient Egyptians. Their pies were savory pastry: a dough of flour and water paste to wrap around meat and soak up the juices as it cooked (here’s a brief history of pastry).

While our focus today is on vegetables, it’s fun to look at the ancestor of pot pies.

In the days of the Roman Empire, large pot pies served to the wealthy sometimes had live birds under the crust that would burst out flying when the crust was cut [source]. You can see this happen in a banquet scene in Fellini Satyricon.

How the birds remained live under a baked pie crust, and why people would want live birds atop their food, we can only imagine (for the former, we’re guessing that a crust was baked separately and the birds and crust added at the last minute).

While you’d think this decadence would have ended with the Roman Empire, one recipe author in 16th-century England advised how “to make pies that the birds may be alive and fly out when it is cut up….”

But most pies were simpler affairs, involving a pastry crust, meat and gravy. When there was no meat, vegetables were used.

What happened to the meat pie beyond Egypt?

Some sources explain that the ancient Greeks placed cook meats in open pastry shells, and that the Romans added the top crust.

In America, the cookbook American Cookery, published in 1796, included recipes for chicken pot pie, beef pot pie, and “Sea Pie,” which used pigeons, turkey, veal and mutton. The recipe was originally developed aboard ships, which used whatever preserved meats were available [source].

The term “pot pie” is an English term, simply describing how it was made: by molding pastry along the bottom of of pot [source]. Metal pie pans did not appear until the 16th century, and the poor could not afford them.
 
 
RECIPE: VEGETABLE PIE

This recipe (photo #1) was adopted from one by Jamie Oliver. Unlike a vegetable pot pie, it is solid layered vegetables, not chopped vegetables in a sauce.

He suggests serving chutney as a condiment, with a chilled rosé to drink.

If you don’t like a particular ingredient, substitute mushrooms or other vegetable. Serve the pie as a main course or a first course.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of oil. Roast on the top rack for 25 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and rosemary after 20 minutes.

2. PLACE the bell peppers on a second baking sheet and place on the lower oven rack for 35 minutes, or until blackened. Place them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes. Then peel, remove the seeds and slice into large pieces (thick rings are fine). Season them and drain in a colander.

3. HEAT 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium heat and sweat the onions for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just caramelized. Stir in the balsamic and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. PLACE a griddle or large pan over a medium-high heat. In batches, brush the eggplant and zucchini slices with oil and place on the hot griddle for 5 minutes, until soft and lightly charred. Halfway through, turn and season. When cooked, transfer to a plate and set aside.

5. BOIL a kettle of water. Put the spinach in a colander and pour over the boiling water to wilt it. Let it cool, then squeeze it dry, chop it and place it in a bowl. Add the ricotta to the spinach, the lemon zest and half the parmesan. Season, stir to combine and set aside.

6. REDUCE the oven temperature to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

7. ROLL out 2/3 of the pastry on a floured surface, so it fits the base and sides of the springform. Press it into place, leaving a little overhang; trim off any excess. Sprinkle half the basil and half of the remaining Parmesan over the pastry base, then layer the vegetables.

8. BEGIN with the zucchini and eggplant, followed by a layer of bell peppers, then the spinach. Add over the squash and onions, then dots of the goat cheese. Scatter on the rest of the basil and parmesan.

[2] Vegetable pies are popular in the U.K. Here’s another version from Delicious Magazine.

[3] We spotted this mushroom pie on the Facebook page of Hope Foods.

[4] Don’t want a pie? How about a tart? Here’s the recipe from Tasting Table.

[5] Perhaps a vegetable strudel? Here’s the recipe from The Pool.

[6] The recipe uses year-round bounty from the fields (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

10. BAKE the pie for 45 minutes or until golden. If the crust becomes too dark, cover it with foil for the last 10 minutes. Let cool in the springform pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan to cool completely. Serve hot, room temperature or cold.

[2] Garlic olive oil with crushed red pepper and tri-color peppercorns (photo courtesy Style Craze).

[3] Use olive oil and herbs as pasta sauce. Here, garlic, crushed red pepper do the trick. See the recipe from Real Simple.

[4] Mashed potatoes with truffle oil and truffle bits. You can use portobello bits or omit entirely (photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma).

If you’re a good cook, you probably own more than one flavored or infused olive oil. We own basil, chile, citrus (blood orange, lemon, lime), garlic, rosemary and truffle oil. We’re either a very good cook or an impulsive shopper.

There’s a difference between flavored and infused, although not many people know it. The front label of the bottle may not tell you, but a look at the ingredients label might.

 
Check out the different types of olive oil in our Olive Oil Glossary.
 
 
USING FLAVORED / INFUSED OILS

We love flavored/infused oils, and tend to buy too many different flavors, that stand shoulder to shoulder in the pantry.

Open* bottles of olive oil have a particular shelf life, depending on olive variety and storage conditions. Flavored oils have an even shorter time before freshness fades. Try to use them within six months, and certainly within a year.

That’s why we look for opportunities to use them on a daily basis.

Note that just as wines pair to specific foods, so do olive oil flavors. Those flavors that are good for meats, such as chile or garlic, may be too strong for delicate fish. For the latter, use oils with citrus or green herbs.

Note that quality olive oils are not meant to be cooked at higher temperatures or for longer times.

 
And now, 20 ways to use flavored/infused oils:

 
Experiment with your favorite foods. We’re partial to a bit of basil or rosemary oil on vanilla or chocolate ice cream, and some chile oil lemon sorbet.

*Over time, even oil an unopened bottle begins to degrade. Again, it depends on variety and storage conditions (in the warehouse, at the store, in your kitchen).