This evening I went along to the Curtain Road branch of Pizza Express in Hoxton for a special event to mark the extension of their ‘healthy option’ Legerra range for Spring. Ushered downstairs we were treated to a few starters and a refreshing prosecco and also invited to sample the ‘Election Pizza’ which, appropriately, will be available again on May 6. After about half an hour of conversation, head chef and pizza supremo Antonio Romani demonstrated how to assemble the two new pizzas in the Legerra range, the Verdure (made with roasted peppers, courgettes and sweet baby onions layered over rosemary) and the Mare e Monti (with king prawns and vegetables laced with cajun spice, oregano and parsley).
Donning aprons it was then our turn to try our hand – we each started with a ball of dough that we had to press out into a circle and then stretch to the edges of a pizza pan, cutting out the centre at the end to make room for the pile of salad leaves that are the distinctive feature of the Legerra pizzas. Of course, being all fingers and thumbs my effort resembled a long sausage when everyone else’s was perfect so, with a raise of his eyebrows, the assistant chef who was helping us out on our table discarded it and presented me with a finished one! We were all successful in assembling the ingredients however, and the pizzas were then whisked away to be cooked and returned a little later so that we could then eat our creations…
I have to say that the pizzas were really rather tasty, with the added bonus of being relatively guilt free as they are less than 500 calories a piece. To complete the healthy range, Pizza Express also now offer mini versions of their desserts paired with coffee, and low calorie/low alcohol red and white wines, one of which we were given to take away at the end of the evening. The most important thing that I left with, of course, was a pleasantly full stomach, so thumbs up for Pizza Express
UPDATE!
Pizza Express have kindly offered the prize of a £10 voucher to the reader of my blog who guesses the most correct answers in the attached quiz. Please pop your answers into the comments section of this post, and I will contact the winner by email directly so that Pizza Express can send you your voucher – the competition closes in one week – good luck!