I am not a pizza person. Fact. I’d eat pizzas, but it’s never my first choice. Pizza hut ( bacon loooooves it) probably contributed to it. Thick, stodgy crust with bare-bones toppings, too much salt and a thin spread of tomato paste…ugh. To hide the disgusting crust, I usually go for pizzas that’s piled mile high with toppings…equating to an even more oil-soaked crust contributing to a thoroughly disgusting meal. Double Ugh.

So it was refreshingly suprising that I have fallen in love with Pizza Express this year. Believe it or not, I have never been to Pizza Express until this year – partly due to my repulsion of pizzas and partly due to my general adversion to chain restaurants. Visits to Pizza Express is now a near-monthly occasion….even though I had not blogged about it before, I had regularly tweeted my pizza express photos. Admittedly, these visits might possibly coincide with us owning a Hi-Life dining card this year; giving diners buy-1-get-1-free on all mains in Pizza Express Sundays through to Friday.I also love how they are usually very efficient – I have issues with inefficient service and servers having a chinwag whilst customers waited vainly for their cheque. On a full-house, I can usually expect my pizza on the table within 15minutes of ordering. I have been to near-empty pubs where it takes them a WHOLE HOUR to serve me my food.

I have ordered a different pizza each time I went, I love the super thin crust, light base sauce and classy toppings that is a step above ham-and-pineapple. So last Sunday when we were at Pizza Express again, I went for the skinny options. The Legerra Pizzas supposedly has less calories (apparently hovering at the 500 kcals mark) than conventional pizzas – with the crust shaped like a doughnut rather than a full disc. The middle bit of the pizza (best part!!) is replaced by a salad of rocket & spinach – god knows what they do with the middle part that they’ve removed? It is also smaller, contributing to portion controls I guess. Low-fat mozzarella is used – this is fairly obvious and I did miss the creamy taste of the mozzarella.

Unfortunately for me, apparently the skinny option does not leave much of a choice for the carnivore. I went for the only Legerra pizza containing any meat; the Gustosa. The Gustosa (the name sounds so robust) is ‘Hand torn prosciutto cotto ham, fior di latte mozzarella and slices of portobello mushroom with sweet yellow peppers and a sprinkle of thyme.’ Hmm. The amount of proscuitto ham was so minute that I had to stop half way through to check whether there were actually any ham on my pizza.

I know it all sounds like a complaint, but if this is diet food, it is defiantely one of the tastiest diet options out there. The pizza is very light and flavours not overpowering. The salad (I replaced mine with a rocket-only salad) is nice enough, dressed with what looks like Pizza Express’ creamy salad dressing. Apparently the crust is made with a ‘skinny’ recipe, but I must say I did not notice the difference there.

Bacon went for one of his old favourites; the 14 inch Etna – spicy soft sausage, fiery roquito peppers and speck ham; finished with grated grana padano. I was happy with my lighter option until I had a slice of his meaty and spicy pizza….the lesson is when you’re having a skinny option, DO NOT TRY THE FATTY OPTION. Left alone with the Legerra I was happy….having a bite of the Etna reminded me of the times when I ordered the Diavolo, the Sloppy Guiseppe and my favourite – the Pollo Pancetta. It took some self control for me to return to my doughnut decorated with rocket.

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This was my first Pizza Express pizza by the way – they don’t do this anymore – oval pizza with torn mozzarella, rocket and pancetta.

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Whilst this is the yummy Pizza Diavlo. Love the jalapenos

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Would I go for the Legerra option again next time? Hm. I probably would appreciate it more if they added more non-veggie option. I still love Pizza Express though, and am still slightly amused that they have managed to turn around my adversion for pizzas.

Pizza Express
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