Pizza Today - November 2022 - 39

" Would you like these IQF
crumbles or them rabbit
turds? "
The question blew my mind
22 years ago as my designated food
salesperson showed me his two
ground beef pizza toppings; The
bag of individually quick-frozen
beef crumbles looked like cemetery
soil ready to be thrown on a pizza
like dirt on a coffin. The crumbled
topping seemed so distant from
beef because it contained soy,
garlic powder, granulated onion
and caramel color. The salesman's
marketing pitch was that it had
" no shrinkage " and " No annoying
beef oils " and guaranteed to reduce
labor costs and be perfect for K-12
education lunches. The other option
were larger frozen round pellets
containing the same ingredients,
(Hence the industry moniker, Rabbit
turds.) " Pretty nice huh? " he said
with glee. I was shocked.
These days, I use only local beef
on my pizzas figuring that if you're
going to put a topping on a pizza,
it better be good. This plain and
simple rule brings customers back
time and time again. Ground beef
can either be a glorious king on a
pizza or a stupid jester as a secondary
flavor. Ground beef can be a
wonderful deep flavor, and the ability
to manipulate it into numerous
variations for pizza brings the
wonderful oils and juices to lollygag
around with the melting cheese
and crisp wheat. This is my idea of
paradise.
Beevus Maximus
Grinding beef goes way back into
history. The Roman cook Apicius
has numerous ground beef recipes
dating to the 5th century AD. Pisa
siva faba, or Meatballs with Fava
beans, marries ground beef with
garum (fish sauce), red wine, cumin,
celery seeds, honey, and olive oil.
The Roman Esticia omentata were
a big hit as stuffed meat patties with
breadcrumbs, myrtle, garum, pine
nuts and bound with caul fat, (fatty
intestine used for binding meat.)
Today's use of ground beef is
spectacular in so many ways. Here
are a few ground beef recipes from
around the world.
Moroccan grilled beef with ground
beef, onion, parsley, pepper, drycured
olives, tomato, cumin and salt
served with onion relish and pita.
Gato di Patate Rustico blends
Sicilian and Neapolitan flavors in
a mashed potato pie with ground
beef, breadcrumbs, egg, Prosciutto
di Parma, mozzarella di buffala,
Scamorza, pecorino Romano, pine
nuts, currants.
Bosnian Pljeskavica with ground
beef and veal, onion, garlic, hot
peppers, parsley, pepper and served
with tomato and lemon.
Mexican Picadillo Tacos is ground
beef flavored with onions, almonds,
cloves, allspice, cumin, oregano,
garlic, onion, jalapeño, tomato, green
olives, capers, and raisons. Served
with arbol chili salsa and a squeeze
of lime.
Turkish yufka is a non-yeasted
dough with milk, egg and wine
vinegar topped with a mix of ground
beef, yogurt, lemon juice, pistachio,
parsley and pepper. The dough is
then rolled like a long snake and
then rolled up and baked in an
oven and eaten hot with a pistachio
yogurt.
Greek Gozleme is cooked ground
beef mix with allspice, hot pepper
flakes, oregano, cumin, paprika, sugar,
orange zest, parsley, feta cheese,
butter and olives. These are blended
and mixed inside a pita and grilled
until crisp.
Leave it to Beefer
To deepen your menu options,
ground beef offers a wide range of
opportunities. Some chefs are going
back to the classics like Steak Tartar
using chopped tenderloin of beef
and even meatloaf. Every way you
use ground beef, there are several
techniques you may want to know.
* Ratio of beef to fat. The industry
standard for a lot of restaurant
ground beef is 80/20. This is a good
start because of cooking. The juices
of the beef seem to escape onto other
ingredients unless you use other
partners in the mix. If you have a
leaner mix, the beef may shrivel up
and crack.
* Binders. In my 20 years of
making meatballs, I've had some
massive fails because of hydration
or wet meat. After all, you can't roll
a meatball if it is mush. I love preprepared
Panko, (Japanese style
breadcrumbs) but I've had to use a
quickly cooked pizza crust chopped
into submission as an alternative.
I like to add egg and breadcrumbs
together because the egg penetrates
the crumbs and sets up under heat
creating a great meatball mouthfeel
and taste combined with herbs and
cheese.
* Cheeses. The other binders
that add structure and flavor to
ground beef are grated cheeses. My
favorite grated binders with beef
are Manchego, Asiago, Pecorino
Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano,
Kashkaval, Provola di Buffala
Affumicate, and aged Gouda.
* Pizza Cheeses with Ground Beef.
Because beef has such a pronounced
bold taste, I've found that pairing it
with a multitude of cheeses brings
different results. My greatest hits
are Gorgonzola, Feta, Chevre,
Provolone, Parmigiano, Labneh,
Genovese Prescinsua, Cheddar, Brie,
Pepper Jack, Stilton, Emmental, and
even American cheese.
SPICY BEEF AND BACON
MEATBALL PIZZA
This is a fan favorite in my pizzeria
because of the meaty, fatty lushness
of the meat-bacon mix combined
with the spice from Calabrian chilies
Pizza Today - November 2022

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