Pizza Express

I went out to Pizza Express on Saturday after watching the surreal, but entertaining new film 'Alice in Wonderland'. And I suddenly remembered that I hadn't written about the launch of the Francesco Mazzei range of pizza, salads and pasta!

Francesco opened L'Anima in June in 2008, and although I haven't been (yet!), my mum tells me it's great, and by what I've tried at various fairs, I think he's my favourite Italian chef. So I was very excited when I heard that he was designing some dishes for Pizza Express, which I already regarded as a good restaurant. Before he became a famous chef, Francesco actually applied for a job at Pizza Express, but they turned him away because they thought that he was too talented!

At the launch it was all a bit of a squash, but really exciting, with everyone trying to grab the tasters before they disappeared! I was really amazed at how many people my mum knew, and embarrassed, when she mentioned that I had started a blog! I said hello to Francesco, who recognised me from the fairs that I'd been to, and got a little picture with the star chef.






The kitchen looked really hectic, and I was quite impressed at how quickly they were churning out the pizzas!


My favourite of the pizzas is Mia Sofia, a 'bianco' Romana base with truffle paste and a mixture of mushrooms, named after Francesco's daughter and her love for truffles. The contrast between the crispy base and the succulent mushrooms was fantastic.

I also loved the Tricolore, a salad of mozzarella, tomato and guacamole (avocado). It was beautifully fresh and the vibrant colours of the Italian flag was a clever touch.

I didn't try the Calabrese pizza, which (unfortunately for me) had a spicy sausage called n'duja, along with the hottest Italian Calabrese sausage, fresh green chillies, roquito peppers, watercress and olive oil, fior di latte mozzarella and oregano. It is square to honour Francesco's grandmother's belief that it is how pizzas should be.
Rustichella was also a meaty one, with a classic Margarita base, plus oregano from Francesco's home region, crisp pancetta, rocket, grana padano and a drizzle of Caesar dressing.

Francesco also designed a pasta dish for Pizza Express, called Tagliolino Funghi, which also I haven't tried it at Pizza Express, I've tried a very similar dish made by his chefs at L'Anima at Taste of Christmas fair 2009, and it is absolutely delicious!

So hurry along and try some Francesco Mazzei inspired food at a Pizza Express branch near you!!!!

adgio pizza

Yesterday, I was taken along to Greek Street in Soho, where adagio, a new pizza restaurant, has been open for a couple of weeks.
Adagio means 'at ease', and I did feel at ease as I was taken around behind the scenes of adagio. The secret behind adagio's pizzas is the dough - it is left to ferment in massive fridges for at least three days, at controlled temperatures, and knocked back - all of this, according to Shelley Squire, the head chef of adagio, breaks down the sugars in the dough, and makes it taste yummier! There were also loads of strange, but cool-looking bubbles that made the dough seem alive!









However, the real test of good pizza, is of course in the tasting. They were certainly unlike any I have ever tasted - a gooey base with a crispy edge and fresh toppings scattered over the top. My only criticism is that they weren't served quite hot enough for my liking.
One of their great ideas is charging by weight, not slice, so that you can order lots of little slices of different pizzas, or a big chunk of one or two.

Yummy Paul A Young Chocolate Brownie

Just had a really delicious chocolate brownie from Paul A Young (http://www.paulayoung.co.uk/), which my mum brought home for me. It was rich and gooey and topped off with some hazelnuts. Thoroughly recommended.

Scrumptious Sacla Sauce

I just tried a new sauce by Sacla on some gnocchi with crispy sage. The sauce is part of Sacla's new range by Lawrence Dallaglio and is a creamy blend of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. It had a perfect texture to accompany the pasta and a piquant umami flavour, which probably came from the tomatoes.

http://www.dallagliobysacla.co.uk/

Supper and Scrabble

Lovely seared tuna with an olive and tomato salsa and saffron mash. Picking up some tips from the chef (my dad) and the secret to a good mash is to use floury potatoes (not waxy ones), boil them until well cooked, then mix in with a chunk of butter (not oil), some milk/crème frêche and mash it up! We got the tuna from a brilliant fishmongers - Moxen's - which is luckily just down the road from us. A good way to cook this is to soak it in olive oil and then sear it for a couple of minutes in a hot pan.

This was followed by a sticky toffee pudding and an epic game of Scrabble: 390-317 to me!

Sushi

Just had some sushi, from Waitrose. It was only mediocre. The rice didn't have much flavour, but the fish was O.K. I'll make my own next time, although it's a lot more trouble!

Haddock with Miso

Just had some really yummy Icelandish Haddock with miso and chilli lime on udon noodles which my mum made. Miso paste is really great - and not just for miso soup!!

Also had very special burrata cheese on bread and lettuce. Unfortunately, the burrata was a little bit old, but it was still delicious and creamy! (For those who don't know, burrata is a quite obscure cheese made from mozzarella and cream.)