Crossword Genius

Quiet pioneer cooked Italian food (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

peperoni

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'italian food' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'quiet pioneer cooked' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano', ie soft or quiet).
'cooked' indicates an anagram (letters cooked into a new form).
'pioneer' is an anagram of 'eperoni'.
'p'+'eperoni'='PEPERONI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for peperoni that I've seen before include "source of heat consumed by Italians?" , "Seasoned sausage" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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