Grilled Pepperoni

When I was a kid my Father would go down to a local grocery store and pick up some sticks of pepperoni that at the time seemed about 3 feet long.  He would cut the pepperoni and throw it on the grill.  If you enjoy the flavor and texture of the pepperoni cooked on a pizza, you will love pepperoni that has been grilled.

Feeling nostalgic, I picked up the only pepperoni that was available in a stick at our grocery store. The Boar’s Head Natural Casing Pepperoni I bought did not have to have the casing peeled like the pepperoni that I remembered as a kid, but it was a fun 5 minutes of trying to peel something off the outside of the pepperoni that did not exist.

If you have access to fresh loaves of Italian bread that you can slice or better yet, sliced Italian bread, get some for the pepperoni.  I am not talking about the grocery store shelf Italian bread that you can find by the white bread in your grocery store, but I am talking about the fresh stuff from a bakery with the crispy outside and soft and moist inside.  If you cannot get your hands on that Italian bread, hot dog buns will suffice.  Unfortunately I have not found a bakery in this town that offers the fresh baked Italian bread and had to settle for the standard hot dog bun as shown in the photos below.


Step #1: I cut off about a 5 to 6 inch piece of the pepperoni which I figured would at least fill the bun.


Step #2: Slice the pepperoni into two halves.


Step #3:  Grill the pepperoni.  You will see the fat start to escape and the cut side of the pepperoni will start to get that same texture that the pepperoni on pizza has.


Step #4:  Place the pepperoni in a folded slice of Italian bread, a hot dog bun, your favorite roll or just pull it off the grill and eat it.


Note:  The longer you grill the pepperoni, the more fat that will escape and the dryer and tougher the pepperoni will be.  Do not grill the pepperoni too long.  You want the pepperoni to start getting the texture of the pepperoni on pizza, but still have the inside be hot and juicy.


Comment on this post