Featuring more vegetarian options than ever before, the menu is aimed at the growing numbers of people who are cutting down on the amount of meat they eat, whether for their health, to save money or for the sake of the environment.
Included in the launch is PizzaExpress’ first ever vegetarian calzone, a traditional, Neapolitan, folded pizza. The Calzone Verdure is packed with goat’s cheese, chargrilled vegetables, sweet baby onions, pesto, baby spinach and Gran Moravia cheese with an Arrabbiata sauce (£11.95).
The Caprina Rossa is a meat-free pizza brimming with fresh flavours. It is topped with beetroot, goat’s cheese, red onion, garlic, mozzarella and tomato and finished with rocket, pesto and a wedge of fresh lemon for even more zing (£11.35).
For pasta lovers, the Lasagna Verde, a tasty new meat-free pasta dish, consists of chargrilled peppers, courgette and aubergine, chopped olives and capers, roasted peppers and mozzarella layered with tomato, garlic, and béchamel, between green spinach pasta and baked with Arrabbiata sauce then finished with Gran Moravia cheese (£9.60).
Importantly, PizzaExpress has also made the decision to change their Grana Padano cheese, which contains animal derivatives, to Gran Moravia, a vegetarian hard cheese, making more of their recipes vegetarian.
PizzaExpress is offering five MFMers the chance to win a £50 gift card in order to sample the meat-free dishes, free of charge. To enter, send us your idea for a delicious new meat-free pizza. Entries will be judged by PizzaExpress Master Pizzaiolo Antenor Siqueira who will be looking out for originality, flavour combination and appearance. Please enter below.
THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED.
The winners of the competition and their winning meat-free pizza toppings, as judged by by PizzaExpress Master Pizzaiolo Antenor Siqueira, were as follows:
Tony Franks: Reduced passata and caramelised onion sauce, pieces of smoked garlic, chopped black and green olives, fine slices of sun dried tomato and roasted red and green peppers, topped with Monterey Jack and Mozzarella cheese
Anna Jackson: Roasted butternut squash, blue cheese (e.g. Gorgonzola), fresh figs, finished with rocket and a balsamic/soy dressing
Danielle Parton: A meat-free pizza topped with black olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, garlic, roast aubergine topped with grilled Manchego cheese
Dan Elmont: Assorted sweet peppers, red onion, olives, capers, jalapenos with a chipotle and tomato mix sauce and Mozzarella
Donna Silverns: Wild mushrooms, smoked garlic, shallots, pine nuts, rosemary and tarragon with (Daiya) vegan cheese
General terms and conditions: Five gift cards worth £50 each will be given away to five winners who submit their details and meat-free pizza idea to Meat Free Monday via the above form. Entries will be judged by PizzaExpress Master Pizzaiolo Antenor Siqueira. Entries close on Monday 4 November at 17.00 GMT. Gift cards will be posted within five working days of the close of the competition. Each gift card entitles the winner to £50 to spend on food and drink at PizzaExpress. Valid Sunday – Friday until 30th January 2014 in PizzaExpress restaurants in the UK. Not valid in conjunction with any other promotion or set menus including Tesco vouchers and Tesco codes.