Slice To Meet You

Ms STMY and I have been watching The Bear tv show and it got me hankering for an Italian beef. A friend of mine was kind enough to send us dinner last night from Rosati's Pizza and I got my sammich!

This was from the Oldsmar location which I’ve ordered pizza from before. They now have a location in Largo. They are available on DoorDash and Uber, but it’s cheaper to go directly to their page.

The sandwich was delivered in a nice box (fancy!) and was wrapped in aluminum foil tightly with a container of au jus. It was a decent size (smaller than a cheesesteak), but it was stuffed full of meat.

First bite was a dry bite from the top and the bread seemed a bit too chewy, but the meat was tasty. Second bite was from the bottom and you could taste the juices here as the roll was saturated down there. I don’t get my sandwiches fully dipped as it’s too messy and I want to control the mess! Next I dipped a dry portion into the au jus - The au jus container was small and hard to dip in overall. Once dipped, the bread was excellent soaking up the juice. Portillos gives you a container large enough to fit the width of the entire sandwich which is perfect. The meat as I mentioned was tasty, and I enjoyed the seasoning. It was nice and moist and super tender. It was a filling sandwich.

Overall I enjoyed this sandwich and will order again. Now I don’t have to drive out to Temple Terrace to get a good beef!! I’ve never had a true Italian beef from Chicago like Al’s or Mr Beef, but this was really good. I’m taking points off for the au jus container as that was the only minor flaw imo.

7 out of 8 slices

Happy New Year! I finally got around to trying the Bianco DiNapoli pizza sauce. Bianco DiNapoli produces some of the finest canned tomato products available - just as good as San Marzano (overrated in most cases imo). This sauce comes in cans or a squeeze bottle and is available through Amazon and Whole Foods. One can is $4.99.

This product is labeled as organic and contains only 4 ingredients according to their description, but the label shows 7 ingredients. I’m no mathlete, but that’s off. Regardless it’s a simple mix with no preservatives which is a plus, and it’s organic if that’s important to you.

I started out testing the sauce by taking a couple spoonfuls. It was a bit chunky, so I’d recommend mixing it up well first. I might even add a little water if I used it on certain pies. For most people it would be perfect. Taste wise it was very pure tasting. The strongest flavor outside of the tomatoes was basil. I would have liked a bit more oregano. Overall the sauce was good. It wasn’t overpowering, not super sweet, and was just simple. It paired up well with my beloved Original Pizza Logs. Out of the can it’s a very nice sauce imo, but I think I’d play around with it adding more oregano and salt to it, and possibly a lot of water to brighten it up somewhat. I also like that it’s not full of sugar.

Hey folks. Just an update. I’ve been in the hospital for the past month and recovering, so content will be light!

It’s no secret that I love products from Made In Cookware. They’re my #1 choice for pots and pans. Sadly this is not a pizza steel. It’s a typical pizza pan that’s made of carbon steel. I’m sure it’s high quality, and does a great job for reheating pizza or frozen pies, but it won’t beat a real baking steel.