Next, slice about half of the top of the head off of each bulb of garlic. Then arrange all the garlic bulbs cut side up on a large cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. By lining the baking sheet with aluminum foil will make for easy clean up later. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over all of the bulbs of garlic.

By drizzling the olive oil first will help the salt and pepper to adhere more evenly to the garlic. Sprinkle the garlic with the salt and pepper, and after the garlic is oiled and seasoned to taste, take the aluminum foil and wrap around the garlic bulbs making a tight packet. The clove should roast for about 1 to 1 ½ hours in the oven or until the garlic is a light golden brown in color and very soft when poked with a fork.

After the garlic has completed the roasting process take the cloves out of the aluminum foil packet and allow them to cool at room temperature. Once the garlic has cooled, it is time to remove the cloves from the head, which is a simple process. First grab the bulb and squeeze the bottom part gently. This will help the cloves of garlic pop out of the bulb.

Place the roasted cloves and place them in a bowl, take the remaining olive oil about 1 tablespoon and add to the bowl of roasted garlic cloves. Using a fork, mash up and mix the roasted garlic and olive oil together until evenly blended. Roasted garlic can then be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks and for approximately one month in the freezer.

When garlic is roasted, the cloves of the bulb start to mellow and sweeten the flavor when compared to raw garlic. By roasting the garlic, it will add a silky buttery texture to the clove, which will be a perfect compliment in a tomato sauce or even a simple pasta

Bolognese sauce originated in the region of Bologna, Italy. This sauce is mostly thought of in the United States as a tomato sauce with very small amounts of ground beef. In fact, a true Bolognese sauce uses very little tomato in it and has various types of meat as the base.


A traditional Bolognese sauce is made up of pancetta, beef, onion, carrots, celery, meat broth, red wine, and tomato paste. The sauce is cooked down for about 3 to 5 hours using a low heat. This allows the flavors of all the ingredients to meld into a rich flavorful symphony of taste. The sauce then becomes thick and meaty in texture giving it a nice contrast to the pasta.

Even though many Bolognese sauces use beef and pancetta as the meat, it is not uncommon to see various sausages and cuts of pork used in this thick ragu. In Italy, on special occasions, the sauce can include veal, chicken and goose liver. Some cooks like to add mushrooms to this wonderful sauce giving it an earthy undertone. Many Bolognese recipes can even call for small amounts of heavy cream or milk. Either variant of ingredients used in the sauces is correct, as long as the tomato paste does not overpower the flavors of the meats being used.

Americans seem to think that all pasta sauces are pretty much the same, thinking that the only difference is the type of pasta being used in a dish. This is a total misconception of Italian pasta sauces. Bolognese sauce is not the average tomato sauce served on top of penne pasta. Many diners in restaurants when trying Bolognese sauce for the first time are quite surprised at the small amount of tomato used in the sauce. The meats used in the ragu take center stage with its rich and robust flavors. The delicate spices happily play in the background enhancing all the flavors of the meats being used. With one taste of this meaty sauce, many gastronomes become well aware of the differences when compared to other pasta sauces and it quickly becomes a favorite served in pasta dishes.

Bolognese sauce is bold and makes no excuses for its hardy taste. This meat laden sauce is the “heavy weight” of Italian sauces. With many tomato sauces being delicate in flavor, Bolognese sauce takes charge of the palate and explodes upon the taste buds. Many pastas lovers rejoice in the pure robustness of Bolognese sauce. This makes Bolognese sauce one of the most unique sauces to adorn a plate of pasta.

The sauce that covers the Spinjuine is a spicy tomato meat sauce. This meat sauce is prepared with ground steak, sausage, onions, mozzarella and basil. The meat sauce is somewhat reminiscent of a traditional Sicilian Ragu sauce of ground beef, but tastes much better because of the choice ground steak and sausage used. The sauce is laden with the earthiness of sautéed onions, spicy tomatoes and fresh basil at its base. The elegant combination of these rich and delicate flavors gives the sauce on the Spinjuine a palate-pleasing taste, like no other pizza made in the United States.

Many Americans have a complete misunderstanding of what type of crust that should be used on many types of Sicilian pizza. When it comes to the Spinjuine it is no different. The crust is made out of a type of Italian bread dough, which gives the crust a silky soft texture instead of the more common crunchy thin crust or the chewy thick crust that is so common on pizzas in the United States.

Mozzarella and Provolone cheese are traditionally used in the Spinjuine. Mozzarella cheese is soft in texture, has a mild milky taste and is white in color. Provolone cheese is firm in texture with a rich yellow color and has a more pronounced, creamier taste then Mozzarella cheese. These cheeses are native to Italy, but are now produced in other parts of the world.

The Spinjuine pizza could only be found in Sicily until recent times. The only other known place that the Spinjuine pizza is served in the world is located in Chesterfield, Missouri in the United States of America. The owners of Caito’s Sicilian Restaurant & Pizzeria have made the Spinjuine pizza the crown jewel of their extensive Sicilian menu. One taste of this rare type of pizza and people are hooked on the Spinjuine. The meaty spicy aromatic sauce and the complex textures of the Spinjuine set it apart from what American palates are accustom to when eating Sicilian pizza.