pork belly; beef short rib; pineapple; bacon; onions; peppers
An amazing bed of coals is created when you make pizza in a pizza oven. The dad and I built a pizza oven some moons ago, and we never looked back. It is not easy work, but making pizza from scratch and then cooking it in a pizza oven is superior to all other forms of pizza!
Recently, my brother (who is visiting from the UK) wanted to make some pizza. We make some lovely coals, cooked pizzas and then it was time to add the roasts.
Because the pizza oven retains so much heat, it is perfect for slow cooking some roasts and big cuts of meat. I had some nice pork belly with the bone still in and beef short ribs. This was the perfect opportunity to cook them both!
Low and slow.
At first, I added some small bacon pieces and some oil, just to give the fat caps some colour to start with. I was very cautious of burning anything at this stage. Again, low and slow.
Even just at this stage, the smell was amazing. The bacon releasing its oil, the fat caps starting to get some sort of colour, the smell of the cooked pizzas in the background...
Then it was time for the spices and marinades, the star of the show. We normally use all of the leftovers from making pizza. I never use the marinara or tomato sauce, as from my understanding tomato acids and cast iron pots do not go well together...
So I used the following ingredients, sauces, and spices:
- soy sauce,
- chipotle sauce,
- vinegar,
- Worcestershire sauce,
- smoked salt,
- onion,
- pepper,
- garlic,
- fresh herbs,
- pineapple, and
- homemade stock.
I added all of this on top of the roasts. I used the chipotle with the beef, and the pineapple with the pork. The rest of the ingredients, I distributed equally in the two pots.
I put the lids on these pots, and placed them back into the pizza oven, with some coals on top and on the bottom, and I forgot about it for about 4 or 5 hours...
When I opened them after the 4 or 5 hours, we were greeted with one of the most beautiful sights...
Few people know the beauty of slow-cooked meat in the pizza oven. The sight is something to behold, but the taste is something else. It is amazing how much flavour can be pulled from the meat in such a simple way of cooking.
In some follow up posts, I will show you how I use these meats. For now, we dived into them, pulling them apart, putting the meat on rice, on toast, the way you can use the pieces of shredded meat is endless really!
I wish I could share a couple of pieces over the internet...
For now, please enjoy these photographs and do try it if you can!
Happy cooking, and stay well.
All of the writings used in this post are my own. The photographs are also my own, taken with my iPhone.