Pulled pork is one of those foods that I never think about until it is right in front of me. It isn't something I crave out of the blue, and it certainly isn't a staple in our household. Every time I have it, though, I think, "why don't we have this more often?" It is made from pork butt or pork shoulder roast, whatever you want to call it. It is a really inexpensive cut of meat, and if you cook it slowly, it comes out juicy and flavorful without a lot of work.
That being said, although it doesn't take much effort to make, it does take quite a bit of time. I started working on the ingredients for this pizza on Monday. I started with the pork roast. It had been quite a long time since I had made one, and my memory on the mechanics of it was quite rusty. The original recipe called for a 1½ roast to start (for two pizzas), cooked at 325º F for 3½ hours. Well, Jeff and I don't ever do anything small, and as my brother-in-law Roger said, that size roast isn't even worth the effort. I didn't see the original chunk of meat that Jeff bought for this recipe, but he cut me a 3½ pound piece, gave some of it to my parents, and there are still at least two packages of it in my freezer.
I wondered how to adjust the time (and temp?) for my more-than-double-sized roast. I'm not sure if I had a short attention-span, was too impatient, or not google-savvy enough, but I couldn't seem to find a comparable cooking time for this roast. Jeff and I discussed it and speculated and decided that we should cook it for the 3½ hours, and then just let it sit in the oven with the heat off until it cooled. We reasoned that we felt that 325º was a little high, and that the time for this size roast shouldn't differ all that greatly from the time for a roast that was two pounds smaller. The residual heat from the dutch oven and the trapped heat from not opening in the oven would continue to cook it for at least an additional half hour - probably more. Because the temperature of the oven was relatively low to begin with, it wouldn't burn, and because of the fat content in the roast, it probably wouldn't dry out either.
I was a little curious on the instructions. It didn't have me sear the roast first (which I thought every roast recipe started that way) - just salt and pepper and throw it in a dutch oven. I took it a little further and instead of salt and pepper, I used Harley's Sweet Rib Rub. This is similar to Lawry's Seasoning Salt, but with a little more pepper and kick to it, and the rub version has some brown sugar added to it for caramelization.
Adapted from Revolutionary Pizza by Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau
Dough:
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3½ cups bread flour
Roast Pork:
3½ pound pork shoulder roast
2 tablespoons Harley's Sweet Rib Rub
Sauce and Toppings:
8 ounces Negro Modelo (or other dark, rich beer)
½ cup Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce
1 cup and 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 large Portabella mushroom caps (about 4 ounces), cleaned and trimmed
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
4 ounces shredded Mexican Blend cheese
10 3"x3" wonton wrappers, cut into ½" strips
2 green onions, chopped
Make the dough: Whisk together the water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a large stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Add the flour and run the mixer on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes or until the outside of the dough becomes smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside in a warm place for about an hour. Cut dough in half. Using your fingers, shape each half into a ball, making sure to seal up any fissures. Reserve one dough-ball for another use. Place the other one on a baking sheet, cover sheet and dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Allow dough ball to come to room temperature before shaping.
Make the pulled pork: Preheat the oven to 325º F. Rub the roast generously all over with the seasoning blend. Place in a Dutch oven and cover with the lid. Roast for about 3½ hours without removing the lid. Turn the oven off, but leave the roast in the oven for two hours. Remove roast from oven and shred with two forks, incorporating any juices that may have collected in the bottom of the pan.
Make the sauce and assemble: Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch the dough out to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Combine the beer and barbecue sauce in a small sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the temperature to low and continue to simmer for about ten minutes or until the mixture has reduced by half. Let the mixture cool. Spread the mixture over the prepared dough. Spread 8 ounces of prepared pork over the barbecue sauce, reserving the remainder for another use. Brush the cleaned Portabella caps with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Grill the mushroom caps over high heat for a few minutes per side or until grill marks appear on the tops. Slice mushroom caps and scatter over the pork. Top the pork and mushrooms with the cheeses. Fill a cast iron skillet with the olive oil, adding more, if needed, to bring the depth up to about an inch up the side of the pan. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry the wonton strips in batches, trying not to overlap the pieces in the pan, for two or three minutes or until just starting to brown (they will continue to cook when they are out of the pan). Place fried strips on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or place in a greased pizza pan and put in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and is starting to brown a little. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the wonton strips and the green onions (it may be easier to slice the pizza before adding the strips and onions).
My whole house filled with the smell of pork. The warm, homey aroma made me drool. When I took it out of the oven, of course I had to sample it to make sure that it was done properly. And, oh was it delicious! As I was shredding the pork, every third fork-full ended up in my mouth. It was moist and salty and rich. I had forgotten how good this could be. Now that we have a couple more of these roasts, I am going to have to put this into the rotation somewhere.
It was really easy to shred. I took two forks and just stabbed and twisted until it was one big pile of meaty goodness.
While the pork was cooking, I decided to work on the sauce. It called for a quarter cup of barbecue sauce and 4 ounces of beer (it actually called for a porter, but I didn't have one, so I used Modelo Negro) for two pizzas. I was only making one, but I was going to make all of the sauce anyway. I would decide later if I was going to use it all for this pizza.
As the sauce was simmering, I ran outside to the grill to grill my portabella mushrooms. I swathed them with a little olive oil and put them on the hot grates. A couple minutes on each side was supposed to do it, but it ended up taking a bit longer than that to get some nice grill marks on the meat of the head.
The sauce was supposed to simmer for 10 minutes, but I must have been at the grill for longer than that, and I think the sauce was bubbling away on the stove for closer to twenty. I had about an eighth of a cup of "sauce" when I was done, but it was more the consistency of tar than sauce.
It was delicious, though. It was tangy and sweet with a little bitter after taste. I decided to keep it and try again the next day. I added this tar to another 4 ounces of Modelo and another quarter cup of barbecue sauce. This time, I did only give it ten minutes on low, and it turned out beautifully. It was thick, but not too thick; it was slightly sweet with that tannic finish; and a little bit spicy.
I still had time before Jennifer and Roger arrived to start on frying my wonton wrappers. I cut a few extra strips, because I knew I would not be able to resist trying them once they were fried. And, I was right. And, Jennifer was unable to resist as well. It was a good plan.
My whole house filled with the smell of pork. The warm, homey aroma made me drool. When I took it out of the oven, of course I had to sample it to make sure that it was done properly. And, oh was it delicious! As I was shredding the pork, every third fork-full ended up in my mouth. It was moist and salty and rich. I had forgotten how good this could be. Now that we have a couple more of these roasts, I am going to have to put this into the rotation somewhere.
It was really easy to shred. I took two forks and just stabbed and twisted until it was one big pile of meaty goodness.
While the pork was cooking, I decided to work on the sauce. It called for a quarter cup of barbecue sauce and 4 ounces of beer (it actually called for a porter, but I didn't have one, so I used Modelo Negro) for two pizzas. I was only making one, but I was going to make all of the sauce anyway. I would decide later if I was going to use it all for this pizza.
As the sauce was simmering, I ran outside to the grill to grill my portabella mushrooms. I swathed them with a little olive oil and put them on the hot grates. A couple minutes on each side was supposed to do it, but it ended up taking a bit longer than that to get some nice grill marks on the meat of the head.
The sauce was supposed to simmer for 10 minutes, but I must have been at the grill for longer than that, and I think the sauce was bubbling away on the stove for closer to twenty. I had about an eighth of a cup of "sauce" when I was done, but it was more the consistency of tar than sauce.
It was delicious, though. It was tangy and sweet with a little bitter after taste. I decided to keep it and try again the next day. I added this tar to another 4 ounces of Modelo and another quarter cup of barbecue sauce. This time, I did only give it ten minutes on low, and it turned out beautifully. It was thick, but not too thick; it was slightly sweet with that tannic finish; and a little bit spicy.
I still had time before Jennifer and Roger arrived to start on frying my wonton wrappers. I cut a few extra strips, because I knew I would not be able to resist trying them once they were fried. And, I was right. And, Jennifer was unable to resist as well. It was a good plan.
I had Jennifer start assembling the pork pizza while I scrambled to find ingredients to make another pizza. I hadn't really picked out a recipe, because I thought, if we needed a second pizza, I could come up with items I already had in the fridge to create one instead of buying another whole set of ingredients. I could have sworn that I had some bloody mary sauce left over from the pizza we had done the week before, but I ripped that fridge apart and could not find it. Jeff came home in the middle of it, and I accused him of drinking it. He flat out denied it, but I know that sauce must have gone somewhere. Time was wasting, though, and I needed to develop Plan B.
Dough:
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3½ cups bread flour
Toppings:
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 ounces pepperoni slices
2 ounces small pimento stuffed green olives, left whole
3 ounces pickled sliced jalapenos
8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
Make the dough: Whisk together the water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a large stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Add the flour and run the mixer on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes or until the outside of the dough becomes smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside in a warm place for about an hour. Cut dough in half. Using your fingers, shape each half into a ball, making sure to seal up any fissures. Reserve one dough-ball for another use. Place the other one on a baking sheet, cover sheet and dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Allow dough ball to come to room temperature before shaping.
Assemble and bake: Preheat oven to 500º F with pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch dough out to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Scatter chopped tomatoes over the dough. Sprinkle dried oregano over the tomatoes. Arrange all but 9 pepperoni slices over the tomatoes. Add the olives, distributing evenly over the pizza. Cover everything with mozzarella cheese. Arrange the remaining pepperoni decoratively over the cheese. Transfer to the preheated stone, if using, or transfer to a greased pizza pan and put in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning. Slice and serve.
This pizza was very similar to the bloody mary pizza we had on a previous Thursday, but I had really enjoyed that pizza and wanted to kick it up a notch with some jalapenos. I do love jalapenos on pizza. I always have them add jalapenos when I order delivery.
Jennifer had brought a 5 meat pizza from Costco, and that had been baking while we were assembling the other two pizzas. Jeff came home just as that one was done, and we enlisted him for slicing.
It didn't take long for the other two pizzas to cook, and we pulled those out and prepared for the post oven directions for the pork.
Jennifer added those lovely, crunchy, wonton skins and some fresh, bright, green onions while I mixed up a cocktail.
3 ounces gin
½ ounce hibiscus syrup (recipe below)
½ ounce lemon juice
Hibiscus syrup: Mix equal parts water and sugar in a small sauce pan (I used 4 ounces of water and half a cup of sugar). Add 1 tablespoon dried hibiscus flowers per every 4 ounces of water. Boil until sugar dissolves. Strain liquid into a bowl through a mesh sieve. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour gin, syrup, and lemon juice over the ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy!
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The pork and portabella pizza was wonderful! It was sweet, spicy, homey, meaty, crunchy. The pork had just melted into the sauce. The mushrooms, although we felt they didn't add much to the flavor profile, did add to the moistness of the pork. The wontons added a nice salty crunch, and the green onions contrasted the sweetness of the sauce beautifully.
The impromptu pizza was everything I had hoped it would be (except that we burnt the edge of the crust a little bit). The tomatoes were a nice foil to the salty olives and (mildly) spicy jalapenos. Leaving the olives whole added a nice little pop to each bite that contained them. I didn't miss the bloody mary mix at all.
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