anexpatabroad

“Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.” Anna Quindlen

I think I might just have mentioned before that I’m a big fan of pizza and that my go to favourite pizza restaurant in the UK is PizzaExpress. If you are a regular reader of this blog you will have shared in my excitement of being invited to the launch party of Jazz PizzaExpress here in Abu Dhabi.

The excitement continued earlier this month when the lovely people at Jazz PizzaExpress invited me back to partake in a pizza  masterclass at the new restaurant located on level five of the Mall @ World Trade Center Abu Dhabi. My dough spinning skills may not have earned me the title of Pizzaiolo (the name of Pizza Express chefs) but my dough stretching skills did earn me a box of chocolates!

Rolling up my sleeves, donning my apron and wearing my paper chef hat I was ready along with my fellow guests to learn the art of pizza making at the Chef’s table . We were each presented with individual portions of top-secret recipe dough, which was then covered in flour to start the kneading, stretching and shaping process. I’m not going to lie, it was a messy business and I was covered in much more flour then my dough. An even layer of dough is important to create the perfect thin crisp base, it would seem that dough tossing is quite an art but an essential part of the pizza creation process, much respect to the Pizzaiolo’s and their high flying dough and spinning tricks, I won’t be earning my stripes (the Pizzaiolo’s monochrome striped shirts) anytime soon that’s for sure.

The stretched dough is then placed in a tin and a slight ridge pushed around the rim. Unique PizzaExpress tomato sauce shipped directly from Italy was spooned onto the centre of the circular dough and then the tin turned and tapped to the edges (top tip from our chef). Next up was toppings and another competition for best pizza art, my personalised vegetarian masterpiece did not cut the mustard for a prize at this stage. The final ingredient was a layer of cheese and then it was off to be baked at the perfect temperature to avoid a soggy bottom.  

Not only did we learn the secret of making a delicious pizza, we also got to choose our own favourite fresh PizzaExpress toppings and then eat our own creations too, my perfect way to spend a couple of hours! We also got to sample some festive snowball dough balls for dessert, a sweet version of the classic dough ball that is sprinkled with cinnamon served with a chocolate star and vanilla cream to dip them in, naughty but very nice!

The Pizza Express pizza master-class was an amusing and sociable hands-on event, the perfect activity for pizza lovers but equally ideal as a group activity whether it’s a children’s party, a corporate team building event or a fun family experience. Have fun learning how to make pizza the Italian way, trust me it’s a great class and tasty too.

You can always rely on PizzaExpress for a reasonably priced delicious meal and at Jazz PizzaExpress in Abu Dhabi you can combine your Italian treat with live Jazz and your favourite tipple too. Friday Brunch is available with unlimited food, house beverages, bubbly and music from resident band Uptown at a very reasonable AED 229 per person. If you are a pizza fan, this may be your new favourite Friday haunt.

Jazz@PizzaExpress, Abu Dhabi

Location: The Mall @ World Trade Centre, Abu Dhabi

Opening hours : Sunday – Saturday: 12:00pm – 12:00am

Telephone : 02 444 77 52

Website: www.pizzaexpressuae.com/the-mall-abu-dhabi

Facebook: jazzpizzaexpressabudhabi/Twitter: @PizzaExpressuae/Instagram:Pizzaexpressuae

Click here for the Jazz@PizzaExpress Abu Dhabi menu

Jazz@PizzaExpress is combining the classic PizzaExpress favourites with live Jazz in the heart of Abu Dhabi. High energy live music is scheduled seven nights a week, the restaurant has a great ambience with a reasonably priced menu that features a wide selection of good food and beverages in a licenced venue.

Read my previous post Review: Pizza and All That Jazz

I was invited to attend this event. All the views are my own. Unless otherwise stated all photos on this page copyright Jo Brett 2015. All rights reserved. First and last photos used courtesy of PizzaExpressUAE