Okay, so, for this: this isn’t a dry cured pepperoni. I would love to make that, but I don’t have a space in my apartment to set up a meat curing cabinet. This is smoked (or, if you don’t have access to a smoker, you can mix in some liquid smoke and bake it in the oven, either way) and comes out with a texture much closer to meatloaf. The flavor is great, honestly way better than anything I’ve bought at the store, but the texture might seem odd to some people. So, just be aware.
Incidentally, I found out researching this that pepperoni isn’t italian at all. It’s entirely an italian american invention. So that’s neat.
Also, I used a combination of beef and pork because I saw a lot of different recipes online. Feel free to mix it up some, go ahead and make it all beef if you want.
Finally, this calls for morton tender quick. It’s a specialty curing salt. I genuinely don’t know if it’s necessary, since you’re going to cook it before you eat it anyway, but I’m going to report the recipe faithfully, because it came out great and I’m afraid to deviate from it. If you have trouble finding it, let me know and I’ll give you some, I’ve got 6 pounds of the stuff because that was the cheapest way to get it off of amazon.
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon fennel, slightly crushed (like with a mortar and pestle, you don’t need to grind it all up in a spice grinder)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon anise seed, also crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (optional, if you aren’t going to smoke it)
Directions
Combine everything in a bowl and mix it well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, form the meat into logs. Smoke at 300 for about an hour until it temps at 165. Let rest, then slice and eat!
Since it’s not fermented or dry cured, this won’t last nearly as long as regular pepperoni. If you aren’t going to use it soon, feel free to freeze it.
eatbensmeat 