Can Redwood's vegan pizza convert a pizza-phobe?

My name is Joey and I really don't like pizza.

Yep, I know, it's not something a lot of people will admit to, but it's the truth - whenever my boyfriend suggests we go for a pizza, my stomach shrivels and winces in fear.

Even before I went vegan, I really didn't like pizza, and now my options in most mainstream pizza joints is the same as everyone else's, just without the cheese - so that's a floppy, slimy piece of weird tomato bread, then. Grim.

You might then think that I'm not the best placed person to be reviewing a vegan pizza, but hey, stick with me here.

In a recent trip to my local Holland and Barrett, I stumbled across this Redwood Vegan Meatless Feast pizza:

When I see a new vegan product, I'm powerless to resist buying it, even if it's something that I normally really don't like! Not only do I not like pizza, I'm not a huge fan of vegan cheeses either, unless they're of the fresh nut-based variety. And, add to that, I decided to cook this stomach-threatener with a massive hangover.

It's fair to say then that Redwood had a bit of a mountain to climb to convince me to fall in love with pizza again. So how do it do?
    

The pizza's a thin crust, single-serve kind of deal with vegan pepperoni, ham and spicy beef on top, along with some grated Cheezly.

And you know what? It wasn't bad - not even for a confirmed pizzaphobe like me. But was it good? Alas, not so much - the three meat and one cheese substitutes added up to a bit of a claggy, weirdly-textured whole. I'm not shy of Redwood's meat analogues - I love their fishless fingers in particular - but you can have too much of a good thing.

The Cheezly was the biggest surprise for me - there was a sharp tang that reminded me of cheese - but it became cloying a bit quickly, and I couldn't finish the last piece of the pizza.

Despite Redwood's valiant effort on the pizza front, it wasn't enough to convert me from pizza-fearer to pizza-fan. But fear not, I've not given up on vegan pizza altogether - take a look at this lucious looking vegan cheeseburger pizza on Keen on Food and tell me it's not worth just one more try...

Comments

  1. I probably like pizza enough for the both of us! Ha! All things bread usually win me over. I think you're right about the three veg-meat thing, as it does sound like a lot. Glad you were brave enough to give pizza another go! :)

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  2. What a funny experiment, haha. I'm not a huge pizza fan either, as bread makes me feel a bit bloated, but with a well-spiced sauce and some good toppings, I don't mind it occasionally. Then again, New York is known to do pizza pretty well. maybe you could find a roasted-veggie topped pizza? Then you could just enjoy the delicious veggies and not be too overwhelmed by fake meats.

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  3. I had no idea pizza-phobes existed, ha ha! :) And I'm the same with vegan products, a lot of the time I'm compelled to buy them just based on principle. Like, "Oh hey, look, vegan shrimp! Have to try that!" And all I can say to the hamburger pizza is HELLA YUM. That looks so good.

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  4. Me and my boyfriend absolutely love these pizzas!!! He is mostly a vegan and I am working on it! But I now love these pizzas more than a dominos pizza night now!!! I would love to know where I could buy the meat substitute as I think its scrummy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Me and my boyfriend absolutely love these pizzas!!! He is mostly a vegan and I am working on it! But I now love these pizzas more than a dominos pizza night now!!! I would love to know where I could buy the meat substitute as I think its scrummy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Me and my boyfriend absolutely love these pizzas!!! He is mostly a vegan and I am working on it! But I now love these pizzas more than a dominos pizza night now!!! I would love to know where I could buy the meat substitute as I think its scrummy!

    ReplyDelete

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