Hoo boy, this was tough! I went 'round and 'round trying to think of something different to do for my Spam® entry. Ultimately, after thinking about a place where people actually are enthusiastic about Spam®, I decided to take a stab at a dish I really don't care for- Hawaiian pizza. Traditionally prepared with ham, pineapple and green bell pepper, I realized that just using Spam® was going to be a challenge on the palette, let alone the other ingredients.
So, how to best replace the sweetness and pepper flavors to make this work? I thought about a ham-friendly sauce I had made for the holidays last year- an orange glaze that in addition to be citrus-y, the Survival Spice™ would also add a bit of extra flavor to the Spam, as well. Realizing that it would be way over the top to have it be the only sauce, I decided to just use it to top the Spam.
For the pepper element I decided on serrano chiles and a lot of crushed red peppers mixed into the pizza sauce.
Okay, enough thinking, let's cook! After topping some homemade dough with Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva and homemade pizza sauce, I added a bunch of crushed pepper, then topped it all with Parmesan Reggiano.
Chilebrown sent me a "Spamalot" collector's tin, (thanks again!), and I was surprised to see it had honey added. Opening the tin and tasting it, I was struck by the sweetness and the fact that it wasn't terribly salty at all. Hmmmm...
I sliced it, and fried it briefly to render some fat, because I didn't want a grease slick on top of the pizza. It really wasn't all that fatty, but it did render quite a bit of water, so I put the slices on some paper towels to drain well, and actually added a bit of kosher salt. I also sliced some fresh mozzerella and drained it the same way. Fresh mozz, though it tastes great, really isn't the kind of cheese you want to smother a pizza with, because it's so wet.
I added the mozz, Spam®, and serrano chiles, then baked it off until it was nearly done, then spooned on some glaze during the last few minutes and finished it up.
How was it? It was about what you'd expect- the Spam was fairly innocuous and the glaze worked pretty well. Lots of nice heat from the serrano/red pepper combo, so I'd have to say that it was a success.
Keep those entries coming!!!
What an awful pizza!!! fe:) As a matter of fact I adore pizza, being a great its fan!!!! :) The most delicious one I ate in the Dubai hotel, I stayed in when visited the Emirates!!! It was verrrry tasty and I'd like to give you its recipe with pleasure, but it was the cook's professional secret!!! :) Pity!