Pizza Workshop, on my Doorstep

I am always particularly happy when I hear of new restaurants opening up near my flat. Partly because I am lazy but mainly because I enjoy eating at new places, obviously. So when Pizza Workshop opened up on Whiteladies Road I was somewhat excited. I had heard good things about their first venue on North Street and was looking forward to trying it out.  The restaurant is pretty small but no smaller than Flour and Ash. Pizza Workshop have 10 pizzas on their menu as well as weekly specials listed on their blackboard. At lunchtimes they offer Boccas, a calzone/panini experience, all £5 each with a variety of fillings leaning from the more traditional Italian to British fried eggs and bacon. 

The dough they make is the now almost universally present sourdough, but unlike some of the most popular places at the moment they do not have as much of a raised crust. Pizza Workshop also offer gluten free bases which will be a relief to a lot of people. Most of the pizzas are tomato based but they do offer one white based pizza with lots of mushrooms and truffle oil. I sampled a number eight which is prosiutto, salsiccia, chorizo and n’duja, basically a meat feast. N’duja is becoming more prevalent on pizzas these days but I personally could see more places offer it because it’s simply delicious, spicy and meaty, and perfect for pizza. 

The base is chewy and enjoyable, I didn’t leave many crusts which is a good sign for me. I was also able to request for some mayonnaise to dip them in. They make the mayo fresh and it is extra indulgent with chewy pizza edges. Although dips are not offered as standard in Pizza Workshop you should definitely ask them for a dollop of their mayonnaise because it will enhance your pizza experience. To think that dips in a pizza restaurant were not that common place a few years ago but thankfully due to countless suggestions and feedback from social media and the love people have for Domino’s garlic and herb dip more restaurants are starting to offer dips as an add on. Although it would be good if a standard dipping sauce was offered included in the price of your pizza and the ability to upgrade was there instead, but this is just my opinion.

The number eight pizza was one of the best meat feast pizzas I have had in Bristol because it the toppings were so tasty and plentiful. They certainly weren’t shy with the n’duja, I know I go on about it, but it is sublime. The dough isn’t my favourite from the ones the city has to offer but it was very good. I am so glad to have this pizza place on my door step, the generosity of toppings alone are worth the visit. They mostly stick to the standard Italian meats and veg on offer, toppings wise, but there is something for most tastebuds here.

We have a lot of pizza restaurants in Bristol and each has their own loyal following of fans. The best ones offer something different so you can have a selection to rotate, depending on your preference on a particular day. I am fairly sure this one will enter my rotation under the, close by and traditional.  To find out more about the pizza selection check out their website. 

Friday Night at Piazza di Roma

Last Friday, pizza fanatic Michael had organised us to go to one of his favourite pizza venues, Piazza di Roma right at the top of Whiteladies Road. It was a freezing cold evening when Rich and I trekked up the hill to meet Michael, Emily of Bristol Bites, and her partner Chris, luckily the restaurant was cosy, warm and inviting and we were shown to our table by a friendly waiter. 

I think it is important to mention that the service from the off, though friendly, was extremely slow. Taking our drinks order took 20 minutes alone and half that time to arrive, there were only 5 of us. The menu is very traditional, what you would expect in an Italian restaurant in the UK, pizzas, pasta, bruschetta and side salads.  The ambience is also pretty standard to what you would expect too, cosy, candles on the tables and the lowest of low lighting.

Rich and I opted out of a starter but Michael and Emily picked a tomato pasta dish, all pasta mains can be served as starter portions, and bruschetta. The starters took about 25 mins to arrive the portion sizes were good and made us all feel exceedingly hungry and regretful. I had ordered the Americana pizza, which had pepperoni and sweetcorn on  and Rich picked the Festa di Carni, with chilli. 

The Americana

Festi di Carni

Our table had been booked for 8 our pizzas arrived at 9.30 by that time I was pretty much gnawing at the table corners, pizza to me has always been one of those foods that you can pop in somewhere for a quick bite before heading to your destination. Some foods are meant to be taken time over, like roasts, pizza is not one of them. Having said that the toppings on the pizza were extremely plentiful and tasty, had we not had to wait so long I would have possibly be praising them higher. They are better than some pizzas in Bristol but they still don't beat Beerd's and Planet Pizza for me anyway. 

Pacman Pizza

I have always wondered about this little pizza place, and now my curiosity has been sated. The staff were very cheery but in a tiny restaurant of about 45 seats and only half are full it should not be taking over an hour to prepare 5 pizzas. This could have been a bad day for them I suppose, the food is nice enough I just don't know if it inspired me enough to recommend it above other places, plus the outside toilet doesn't exactly draw me in on a cold night. To check out the menu for Piazza di Roma please visit their website.

Paul Cooks: Pappardelle with Venison Ragu

Hopefully we have here what will be a semi regular guest contributor, Paul. He works with me and with being half Italian and all is known to be quite the chef and massive foodie. Often we see his photos on Facebook of the meals he's prepared and the effort he's made it far out surpasses what I have made on a  standard Monday night. Last night was no exception, up pops a photo of his meal, he'd only gone and made pappardelle with venison ragu. So after drooling at the screen for a few minutes I managed to cajole him into writing up the recipe, so without further ado, here's Paul.

It’s cold outside, the snow underfoot has bypassed its metamorphosis into slush by freezing steadfastly into life threatening black ice thus making the trip back home, be it by foot or by wheeled vehicle, all the more treacherous. In addition to that, it’s dark and those winter blues are proving hard to shift. It’s fair to say that everyone in the UK has experienced this over the last couple of days and if you’re like me, the only way to appease such an annoyance is to concoct a dish so comforting that it feels like being hugged by a million duvets. Well, at least that’s how I felt after preparing, cooking and enthusiastically devouring this sumptuous dish. Fancy giving it a go? Here’s how I made mine:

Pappardelle with Venison Ragu

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 2 to 3 hours

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400 grams of diced venison

150 grams of minced pork

3 anchovy fillets in olive oil

1 large onion - diced

3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

1 stick of celery – chopped into half inch discs

5 chestnut mushrooms – quartered

1/2 a carrot – chopped into half inch discs then halved

1 red pepper – chopped into half inch slithers

1 green chilli – finely chopped

6 pitted green olives (optional) – chopped in half

1 tblsp of tomato puree

400g of chopped tomatoes

2 tblsp of tomato passata

Half a bottle of good red wine

250ml of beef stock

2 tblsp of olive oil

1 tsp of Balsamic vinegar

3 sprigs of Thyme

2 sprigs of Rosemary

1 star of Star Anise

350 grams of egg Pappardelle

Method:

Start off by checking the venison for any bits of sinew and remove them with a sharp knife as these bits of sinew will prevent the meat from dissolving into the sauce during cooking. Season the meat well with salt and pepper then lightly dust with flour. Heat a large cast iron casserole dish on the hob at a medium heat then add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the anchovy fillets and stir them into the oil until they have dissolved. Add the venison chunks and sear them on all sides then remove and place in a separate bowl.

Add the minced pork to the casserole dish and leave to fry until brown. Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables. Once the pork mince is browned and starting to crisp up, scoop it out of the casserole dish and put it in the same bowl as the venison and leave the casserole dish on the hob with the remaining oil on the hob but reduce the heat to low/medium.

Add the diced onion, celery and peppers first and gently fry for 5 minutes, then add the carrots, mushrooms and chilli and give the whole ‘soffritto’(this is the word for the vegetable base of a sauce) a good stir. Once the vegetables have softened and started to brown at the edges, add the chopped garlic and fry for no more than one minute, careful not to burn it. Add the tomato puree and stir it into the vegetables to give them a good coating. Fry for another 5 minutes so that the puree is cooked through then add the venison and minced pork and stir well into the mix.

Add the beef stock, stir and bring it to a simmer before adding the chopped tomatoes and stir in well and bring it to a simmer. Add the wine, thyme and rosemary sprigs and stir in well. Finally, grind some black pepper into the mix, give it a quick stir then cover the casserole dish with the lid and allow to simmer for approximately 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes and giving a good stir to the sauce.

After 2 hours, remove the lid from the casserole and if there are any chunks of venison which haven’t yet dissolved into the sauce, gently press them against the side of the casserole and stir. Add the passata, balsamic vinegar and chopped olives(if you like them – some people don’t), stir and reduce the heat to a low setting then leave the dish to very gently simmer for about half an hour.

In the meantime, boil a large tall sided pan of water and once it reaches boiling point, add a handful of salt.

Add the pappardelle and cook for 7 minutes or however long the packet says is needed. I usually take off one minute from their suggested time to ensure the pasta is ‘al dente’ but this is entirely up to you. While the pasta is cooking, add the star anise to the casserole dish and stir it in but be careful not to ‘lose’ it in the sauce, as it will present you or your guests with a very hard thing to bite through once dinner is served. Remember to scoop it out and discard before serving, along with the stems of the thyme and rosemary sprigs.

Once the pasta is cooked to taste, drain well and then place it back in the tall sided pan. Pour in the sauce and stir well so that the pappardelle have a good coating of the sauce. Season to taste then serve with grated parmesan on top if required.

Enjoy!

A few things worth mentioning about making this sauce is that the longer you leave it, the better it will taste. It can even be left on the hob at a very low heat overnight to ensure the flavours meld together more and that the meat truly dissolves into the sauce. It’s also very important to taste the sauce at regular intervals to check if there’s enough seasoning, herbs, chilli, salt etc..

Also, the inclusion of anchovies may alarm some people but rest assured, the purpose is not to add a taste of fish to the sauce but rather to give the oil used to fry the venison, then the pork and then the vegetables a meaty saltiness that only anchovies can give. Best of all, this dish is perfect leftover food and will probably taste much better as your lunch at work than it did as dinner the night before.

My sample of  the dish thank's to Paul

Thanks Paul, I can vouch for that, I was fortunate enough to be given a sample for my lunch today. It was heaven on a plate. Here's to the next instalment.

Menu Sampling at Filini at the Radisson Blu

After a delightful lunch at Hotel du Vin the other week, I was also invited by Bristol Bites to Radisson Blu's Filini restaurant to the chef's table to showcase their new Sardinian menu. There were only 5 of us there which made it feel extra special, after being greeted with a glass of Prosecco we were led into the kitchen to watch the chefs at work.

It did feel somewhat odd being sat in the kitchen drinking and eating whilst people worked around us but actually there was no chaos and the atmosphere was pretty chilled. Our glasses were never empty and it was  great to see how enthusiastic everyone was. We were treated to six miniature courses most of which you will find on their Tour of Italy: Sardinia menu, which concludes on the 16th of June before they head on to the next region.

The canapés were brought out in a cloud of dry ice, reminiscent of the video for Total Eclipse of the Heart, I did almost expect some heavenly 80s soft rock chorus to kick in.

Rock Star Canapes

Canapés: 

• Curry cornet with salmon tartar, sweet onion, cream fraiche
•  Poached Quail eggs with Bournoise vegetables 
• Parmesan crisp with goat cheese mousse 
• King prawn with avocado salsa 
• Truffle custard on egg shell with chive potato crisp 
• Asparagus with hollandaise sauce 

 These were as delicious as their entrance I actually didn't get to try the asparagus or the salmon tartar ones but the truffle custard on egg with crispy pancetta and chive crisp was a particular highlight. Savoury custard is definitely a strange concept. I have personally only come across it in chawanmushi, a Japanese dish that did not endear itself to me when described by my friend Matt as 'imagine a savoury creme brulee'. This was definitely something I did not want to imagine. This savoury custard however was smoky and full of richness. It sort of tasted like a fancy breakfast in a few bites. The king prawn with avocado salsa was another favourite, a really chunky prawn with a fresh but not overwhelming accompaniment.

Truffle Custard

King Prawn with Avocado Salsa

Starters
Lemon risotto with scallop and langoustine
Mixed Antipasti

The first starter to emerge was a lemon risotto with a chunky langoustine resting on the top. This was delightful. It was fresh, light, melted in the mouth, perfect flavours for Summer. The antipasti contained a few surprises, mainly the wonderful lamb prosciutto and smoked ricotta. The latter was definitely my highlight I have never had smoked ricotta before it was in no way bland and the smokiness really shone through the rich creamy texture. I found a whole wedge of Pecorino to be a bit heavy for an otherwise light board but that was possibly personal preference, strange as I adore full bodied cheeses usually.

Lemon Risotto

Mixed Antipasti

Main course
Monk fish wrapped with Parma ham, spinach and ceps
Roast rump of lamb with summer beans

Unless you discount sushi, of which I eat a lot of, I don't tend to order much fish when I am dining out, I have no idea why, but it is something that I must rectify. I found the monk fish tasty, the sauce in particular was excellent but for me it was nothing compared to the enjoyment I experienced upon tasting the lamb. The lamb was pink and tender, accompanied by a rich full bodied, meaty sauce. The beans were very well cooked, it might have been my favourite dish of the night but we had so many amazing things I am still not sure I can completely commit to a favourite.

Monk Fish Wrapped in Parma Ham

Roast Rump of Lamb with Summer Beans

Desserts
Chocolate mousse
Biscotti with fresh raspberries
Filini Tiramisu

We were brought a beautifully presented tray of miniature desserts which looked almost too good to eat. But being advised the chocolate mousse disc would melt fairly swiftly we tackled that one first. A melt in the mouth disc of mousse coated in cocoa powder, sheer heaven. As I don't like coffee flavoured anything, one of my only dislikes, I did not try the tiramisu but it looked very pretty and delicate. My favourite was the biscotti with fresh raspberries, both sweet and tart enough to make the perfect pudding.

Desserts

Desserts Galore

The chef's table experience was a wonderful one, if you ever see a restaurant offering such an event up, you should definitely take it as it was different and for me felt like a special evening. For more information on Filini visit their section of the website on the Radisson Blu website here. There is video available of some of the food preparation on the night definitely check this out, I get a very quick cameo as well.

As this was a showcase chef's table this meal was free of charge but did not impact how I felt about the food served, the photos speak for themselves. To see what Bristol Bites thought of the evening check out her review here.

Spring Chicken Pesto Stew

I have long considered pesto to be one of my favourite ingredients. I remember first trying it as a teenager for dinner, my mum made a bacon, mushroom and pesto spaghetti. It was love at first bite. Pasta has always been my favourite comfort food. When I went to University we had catered halls and for about 3 weeks I lived off of salad and cheeseburgers. I craved pasta like I never thought possible. I had spied an Italian restaurant in the tiny town centre of Egham, called Caffe Piccolo. Memory will remember this moment as me practically prostrating myself in front of my parents pleading to go there for lunch, realistically it was a far more agreeable exchange of ideas. 

Caffe Piccolo as I remember it.

I remember ordering orecchiette with sun dried tomatoes, chorizo and parmesan. I wolfed it down with such joy as you only experience when satisfying a strong craving. After that moment I knew I could not go that long without pasta again, so I began trying numerous microwavable options, to varying results. Boiling pasta in a microwave is a lot more time consuming and frustrating operation than anybody could have imagined, luckily as a student studying arts subjects I had time on my side.

Returning to present day, last weekend I decided to give a new dish a go. Ever since I received a subscription to Good Food Magazine for Christmas 2 years ago I try to attempt at least one new dish a month. Flicking through this month's this Spring pesto chicken stew dish caught my eye, with my new Le Creuset casserole dish yet to be used, surely this was a no brainer?

You can find the recipe online here I tweeked it a little by adding spinach, instead of leeks and taking out the onion. Plus with the dumplings I used grand padano instead of parmesan and mixed seeds instead of pine nuts.

Ready to go in the oven to cook the dumplings

The Finished Article

I have to say this has got to be one of my favourite new dishes for months. Obviously as I was cooking for just Rich and I, I scaled back the mix to pretty much half of everything and still had enough for lunch and dinner again the next night. Chunky bread is perfect for mopping up excess sauce but the recipe also recommends mash, I personally would find that a little filling.  Definitely a good recipe for an informal dinner party or lazy weekend meal. It would easily be made vegetarian by substituting the chicken and bacon for potatoes and parsnips or any solid root vegetables. The dumplings were the crowning glory of the dish,  they soaked up all the pesto juices and weren't over powered by the grand padano. So our friends should watch our, you may be getting this for dinner very soon!

Incidentally, when researching for this blog post I discovered ten years after my first visit, Caffe Piccolo is no longer open for business in Egham, but apparently still has branches in Farham and Chiswick. Pop in for lunch if you find yourself nearby, I remember it being rather nice. Visit their website here.