Pizza Express’ 600 calorie pizza
Mozzar-hella oily
We all know the thought of healthy eating and pizza don’t really coagulate (especially not on an empty stomach), but I arti-choked at the thought of a pizza under 600 calories after a particularly long day out in Guildford. I remembered the O2 priority main-for-a-fiver deal, an absolute godsend for students due to the apparent abundance of Pizza Express-es. Plus they’re always busy so I assume they must be doing something right. Could this be the new phenomenon? Do I need to start investing shares in Pizza Express?
The short answer is no, but Pizza Express’ Leggara Vegan Giardiniera is definitely one of the better vegan pizzas currently out there. Named on Pizza Express’ vegan menu as one of the more popular options:
“Artichoke, closed cup mushrooms, red onion [which I substituted for capers] and black olives, with tomato, vegan mozzarella alternative and garlic oil, finished with fresh parsley”
I enjoyed that it didn’t try too hard to hide the fact of being a meat alternative and the flavours stayed true to the restaurant’s Italian authenticity born from founder, Peter Boizot and his “love affair with Italy”.
The vegan mozzarella was quite oily, as vegan cheese goes, due to its high percentage of coconut oil. I recommend eating it quickly before it gets cold, otherwise the oil seeps into the pizza base and the tomato (not a good texture) –truly adding a whole new meaning to the name Pizza Express. This cheese definitely isn’t fooling any dairy enthusiasts. Not only did it manage to be oily, but the thinness of the pizza amongst the overpowering tomato made the pizza quite dry. I found myself regularly asking if I could PLEASE get some more tap water for those tiny glasses that hold about as much water as a shot glass. The toppings were the best part of the pizza: soft artichoke and melt-in-the-mouth mushrooms contrasted crisp olives, and the capers added the perfect amount of saltiness. The pizza wasn’t astounding in terms of flavour, but I found the balance of textures impressive for a vegan pizza.
I also like the idea of the freshness of each meal, you can literally see it being prepared in front of you (or behind you as I found, constantly swivelling in my chair because I’m a nosy bugger). Knowledge of fresh ingredients ease the anxiety about all of the nasty preservatives like the BHT and BHA that Pizza Hut dropped after their 2016 scandal. Antibiotic-injected meat is also a huge issue with major food corporations, although if you care that much about things being injected into meat, have I got news for you about the meat and dairy industries…
Credit where credit is due, the meal was surprisingly filling, especially for a salad-based dish. ‘And how is this pizza 600 calories??!!’ I hear you cry! What makes the pizza ‘Leggara’ as opposed to the ordinary Vegan Giardiniera is that instead of having a centre, the pizza dough is constructed as a crisp ring, replaced by a mass of limp salad leaves. These were greatly improved by drizzling chilli oil, but I still felt discontented that Pizza Express’ answer to a lower calorie pizza was just… cutting out half of the pizza. Perhaps the dish could be improved by rectifying the vegan-mozzarella issue, like Pizza Hut’s new and nutritionally competitive vegan ch**se.
Overall, Pizza Express’ Leggara Vegan Giardiniera was just above painfully average, but I’m not really in a position to complain for a fiver and less than 600 calories.
