Bread Three Ways – Way Too Good

Tuesday was bread day at Almost Heaven South, and we decided to change it up a little. Bev’s two jars of starter make a total of six loaves of bread and she usually gives away five of them. So for today, I asked if we could just make two loaves and make the rest into pepperoni rolls and pistolettes. The pepperoni rolls were invented in the town I grew up in and here’s a link if you’d like to know more about them and I’d never heard of a pistolette until I’d seen the ones Chez made over at Fat Johnny’s Front Porch.

First, for the pepperoni rolls or buns to some folks, I just sliced up the pepperoni into strips about 4” long and 3/8” or so square. Many commercial makers in WV now use sliced meat but it doesn’t work as well as the sticks – I want a little pepperoni in every bite.


Bev cut the dough into 3 oz pieces, rolled them out to about ¼” thick and rolled up three pieces of pepperoni into each one, being careful to get the seam and ends sealed together.






Here's the pan full.


We’ve made them many times and this is our SOP.

For the pistolettes, I diced up the remaining pepperoni, some roasted red peppers from last years garden, some shredded Cabot sharp cheddar, and a little Classico marinara. I mixed it all together and Bev stuffed the same 3 oz of bread. She rolled them out the same as for the pepperoni buns, but laid the stuffing on and rolled them the other direction – which made them a little longer.





Bev wanted to try some with cheese on the outside, but it just seemed to make them stick to the pan.


She went off to the hairdresser and left me in charge of baking. I may have let them raise a little too much, but here they are headed for the oven.


And here they are all baked up.


An island full of good eats.


I ate one of each warm out of the oven at 4pm. The pepperoni buns were their usual excellent, but the pistolettes were make-you-wanna-slap-your-mama delicious (common term among BBQers, means super good) – where have these been all my life. I sure know what I’m having for lunch everyday til they’re gone. This is not health food, but if you’re a bread baker and haven’t made these, you are missing a real treat and if you’re not a bread maker, buy you some frozen bread dough and go from there – my aunt made them that way for years.



The pepperoni buns are usually eaten as they come from the oven, but to kick them up a few notches, they can be sliced and adorned with sweet peppers, marinara (or hot dog sauce) and cheese (usually mozzarella) then warmed until the cheese melts. This was my supper bun – I just sauted the peppers in a little olive oil, then added the marinara and put them on the bun along with the cheese - then into the toaster oven.




After watching Punxsutawney Phil's, prediction of 6 more weeks of winter yesterday, I began thinking about the weather. As an aside, even though I’d been through there many times as a child, I remembered nothing of it. So a few years ago we we made a little detour on a trip and went to Punxsutawney, Pa. If you’ve seen the movie, Groundhog Day (one of my favorites), it’s not exactly accurate. While they do have a nice downtown square within walking distance of a boarding house, Gobblers Knob is just that, a knob – from town you go up a long, steep hill to get there, unlike the short, easy stroll Bill Murray appeared to take in the movie. Meanwhile back to winter, it seems as though this year has had more cold than usual in these parts and I’m beginning to think about the view in the title photo (wisteria).

Sorry for such a long post, but have a great day, I enjoy your comments and don't hesitate to give me your suggestions.

Larry