Pepperoni is the New Bacon

I had an aha moment a while back when I was messing around with pepperoni. Being a long time fan of the ideas in food blog which often prominently features pepperoni, I shouldn't be surprised by the versatility of pepperoni.

In the last, I have rendered the fat to use in cooking vegetables, added the crisp pieces to burgers, and of course, pizza. Pepperoni adds a little snap to meat loaf, spaghetti sauce, casseroles and even vegetables.

Other cured meats will work in the same way. Smoked sausage, salami and of course, bacon's cousin, hams such as proscuitto. I believe that the ideas in food people also have a recipe for pepperoni oil to flavour a neutral oil with pepperoni spices.

Think about that for a while. It could be used in baking, making salad dressings, frying and so many other applications. A savoury cheese doughnut with a hint of pepperoni or popcorn seasoning. Anyways, I'll leave you with a notion for a recipe that hasn't quite worked out. Pepperoni with oven roasted vegetables. The problem is to get the pepperoni crisp. Maybe the pepperoni has to be rendered a little bit before the vegetables are placed in the oven or chose vegetables that take a longer time to cook. I first tried this with asparagus.

The leftovers were chopped and used in a frittata cause that is the way I roll.