Tag: friarielli

Posted on

Pizza in Ilchester

So, we went for a walk in Ilchester and ended up eating pizza. I’ve never been there before and we hadn’t planned to stop in Ilchester, it was merely an act of convenient desperation.

We were travelling back from Bournemouth and my electric car was running low on charge, I had planned to stop at a charger in Yeovil but couldn’t find a charger using the in-built navigation in the car. My daughter got her phone out and on Google Maps found one in Ilchester ten miles further up the road. We drove there. I did expect that there would be more chargers in Yeovil, but was frustrated that there didn’t seem to be many. There was a single charger in the car park. We stopped there and put the car on charge. We went for a walk. We found the Nuova Italia restaurant, they have a outside patio and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. They also have a table out the front with food and drinks on show.

My daughter liked the sound of the menu, and they did a good range of gluten free stuff, all their pizzas could be made with a gluten free base, and gluten free pasta was also an option.

We walked in and were given a lovely warm welcome. We sat down and looked at the menu. My daughter went with a gluten free Pizza Boss, this was a gluten free base with San Marzano tomato sauce, Fior Di Latte mozzarella cheese, roasted chicken and pancetta from Valtellina.

I had the Pizza Napoli. This was a white base mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, Fior Di Latte mozzarella cheese, Tuscan Italian sausage and friarielli spicy vegetables from Naples.

They have a wood fired pizza oven and our pizza were cooked to order. It wasn’t long before our pizzas arrived. My daughter’s pizza looked wonderful. I have to say I didn’t think mine looked as nice.

My daughter said of her pizza, it was one of the best she ever tasted, the gluten free base was different to others she has had at other restaurants. 

Mine, despite the appearance was in fact rather tasty. I have a preference for the white base pizza, the sausage was delicious and the friarielli, a kind of broccoli added to the pizza.

Overall the meal was delicious, the service was excellent, it was good value for money and I think we would certainly visit again.

Posted on

Time for a pizza and some antipasto

I don’t always get my first choice when looking for somewhere to eat as a family, even when it’s my birthday. It’s not that I like different places, a member of the family has a gluten-free diet and despite the wider choice you have these days, it’s not always about the choices. So after a game of bowling we ventured off to Pizza Express.

I do quite like how the different branches of Pizza Express reflect their locality. The Pizza Express at Southampton has a ocean liner styling, whilst the one up at Cribbs Causeway has a lot of Banksy style artwork up on the walls.

Though it was a Friday night, and we had booked, the place wasn’t too busy. I wonder if it’s busier during lunchtimes, because of the shopping.

As it was my birthday I decided to start with the sharing antipasto platter.

antipasto

On the menu this is described as containing a selection of Italian meats: Finocchiona, Coppa, Milano salami and Calabrese sausage, with olives, artichoke, roasted tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, sweet Peppadew peppers and dough baked with Gran Milano cheese, accompanied by garlic butter and pestorissa, a harissa spiced tomato dip.

We went with the bigger sharing platter and that was just about right for five (combined with some gluten free dough balls). Okay if you are really greedy then you might want to order two of them. The salami was nice and fresh. Sometimes with these kinds of things, they are prepared so far in advance that the salami has dried out. The bread was interesting, but tasty. It could have done with some more artichoke, there were just two pieces.

For my main course I went with the Campana on a thin crusty Romana base. On top was crumbled pork & fennel sausage, friarielli, tomato, garlic oil and mozzarella, finished with Gran Milano cheese and parsley on a Romana base.

This was an enjoyable tasty pizza. I think it could have done with a little more friarielli. Friarielli or rapini is sometimes referred to as broccoli, but is actually a kind of turnip greens. Quite tasty.

Overall it was a really nice meal and I did enjoy it.