It appears to be an even split when it comes to whether pineapple should be allowed on pizza, new research from PizzaExpress found that whilst half of people surveyed loved the idea, whilst the other half hated the tropical fruit on their pizza.
Summer menu
The pizza chain has launched its new summer menu – which, as you might have guessed includes pineapple! The Hawaiian Hot Dough Balls (£7.25) are a new take on the iconic starter. They come with garlic butter, are loaded with crispy pancetta and fresh pineapple pieces, and are then drizzled with The Sauce Shop’s fiery Pineapple Habanero Hot Sauce. The combination of sweet and hot didn’t go together I thought as smoothly as say ham and pineapple which seems a more traditional coupling of the two tastes. If you load the PizzaExpress App you can sometimes try these free as a starter – a good deal to look out for.
Another new starter is the Buffalo Chicken Wings (£8.25): Flavour-packed chicken wings, smothered in The Sauce Shop’s Buffalo Hot Sauce which works well with a creamy blue cheese dip. You will get messy and need more than one napkin for this new addition where both flavours go well together.
Going with the dough
The main event is the Calabrian Feast Pizza (£18.95), which is seriously spicy, I found that the combination of Nduja, Calabrese sausage, pepperoni, and crispy pancetta layered with two types of creamy mozzarella, Gran Milano cheese plus an extra addition of chilli was best enjoyed with a huge glass of water to ease any burning lips! The pizza comes finished with a drizzle of honey, though the sweetness of the honey didn’t really do the overall taste any favours – next time I would have the pizza without the honey as there were too many tastes clashing against one another.
The other new addition for the summer months is the Four Seasons Speciale (£18.45) – what they have done here is reinvent an old classic. Featuring four different quarters of toppings; a quarter of baby plum tomatoes and Basil pesto, a quarter of pepperoni and Calabrese sausage, a quarter of mushroom, truffle oil and Gran Milano cheese, and finally a quarter of anchovies, capers and olives. If you fancy something that is not as heavy on the stomach as the Calabrian Feast Pizza and not as hot on the tongue, this is the one to look out for.
La Dolce Vita
The Birthday Cake Sundae (£7.75) could be considered as a party in a glass, though with this new offering it felt like every day could be your birthday. Creamy vanilla gelato, raspberry coulis, whipped cream, and celebratory sprinkles with the addition of a mini vanilla sponge cake, filled with buttercream and raspberry jam. Add to that a sprinkle of Joe & Steph’s gourmet Birthday Cake popcorn and the result is a very guilty pleasure. This very sweet dessert is something I have not come across previously, anyone with a sweet tooth will be in their element, others might want to give this a serve and try something lighter such as the new Lemon and Raspberry Cheesecake (£7.75).
The zesty lemon cleaned the palate whilst the raspberry’s sharpness added a further zing. Good to see a strong and firm caramelised biscuit base, I am not fond of soggy bottoms. Served with raspberry coulis and vanilla gelato this tempting dish will round off your own taste of summer.
With all cocktails now priced at two for £12.00 including new ones for the summer including the Soho Spritz, Strawberry Dalquiri and Peachcello Spritz the outlook looks very sunny indeed.
