Too Good To Hurry (Pizza Express Dough Balls)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Pizza Express Dough Balls
Date:	06/05/09 (457 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great as a starter or a snack

Disadvantages: High calorie count.

Pizza Express have produced their box of dough balls with the intention that you buy them as a starter for your meal, I buy them simply because they are a tasty little snack.
Although I just love pizza and all of the trappings that are associated with the Italian delight it is very rare that I buy a ready made pizza unless it has been significantly reduced in price.
But these Pizza Express dough balls are one of the affordable treats at around £2.25 for a box of sixteen complete with the garlic dip.

Before I move onto talk about the product I would just like to mention the stylish packaging. Pizza Express chose their colours and package design well, the classic sea blue cardboard box looks uncluttered and the company have adopted a Celtic style logo to surround their name. Simple, eye- catching and elegant and in this day and age it is quite refreshing to see a simply styled packaging.

It seems that the dough balls appear on the new menu at Pizza Express and the chefs have taken their inspiration from Northern Italy.
Inside of the box there are sixteen `profiterole` sized balls of baked pizza dough and a sealed dish that contains the garlic dip.
Anyone who is taking a look inside of the box won't be gasping with admiration at this stage, the contents of the box look plain and fairly uninteresting really.
The pleasurable part comes when the hot pizza dough balls are shared out on a plate and sitting beside the pot of dip.

The dough balls have been made using a simple recipe, a combination of wheat flour, water, salt, sugar, olive oil, de-activated yeast ( this is yeast that has been deactivated through pasteurisation and is full of nutrients) an emulsifier ( an agent which helps stop the oil and water from separating ) and E300 a flour treatment agent which is added to the flour to improve the properties in the flour.

The pot of dip contains both Palm and Rapeseed oil, butter and buttermilk powder, a substantial helping of garlic, water, olive oil, salt, colour E160a ( a natural pigment that is extracted from some vegetables ) and emulsifier E471 which helps both the structure and the texture of the dip.

The first job is to heat the dough balls through well, so take them out of the box and put them onto a baking tray. Pre-heat the oven, 220C or Gas Mark 7 and once the oven is hot put the baking tray in for around 5 minutes.

More often than not we share the dough balls between the two of us, so the dip is divided into two pots, sometimes we have a small side salad to go with them too.
Within a couple of minutes of being in the hot oven the dough balls start to smell and the yeasty aroma is more than pleasant.

When the hot dough balls are removed from the oven they both look and smell good. The dough balls are fairly uniform and look the same as a Pizza crust, they are golden, slightly matte but show signs of the olive oil that has been used in the recipe.
Within a matter of a few seconds the dough balls have cooled off enough to enjoy.
Then it is time to start breaking up your dough balls and smothering them with the rich garlic dip.
The dough welcomes the creamy coloured dip and the oils within the dip penetrate the dough and sink in making the whole experience very pleasurable.
One thing soon becomes clear, the dip is not lacking in garlic! The strong heady taste is very appealing.

Maybe the dough balls should be enjoyed without making any reference to the calorie content, as anyone would expect this dish is calorie laden.
Eight of the dough balls contain 363 calories and they are high in carbohydrates and sugar.
A portion of the dip contains 235 calories and is also high in fat content.
The dough balls and dip are suitable for vegetarians though they do contain wheat gluten, milk protein and yeast. They can be frozen too.
The dough balls are manufactured by Pizza Express, Harrow, Middlesex.

Pizza Express bake a wide range of both meat and cheese pizza, they also produce some excellent salad dressings and oils.
It is constantly reported that the `new night out` is a bottle of wine in front of the television, so why not add the dough balls and the garlic dip and make it extra special.

On the down side there are the calories to consider and for anyone who is earnestly watching their weight these may not be a number one choice, but for flavour and making a good snack they are superb.

Summary: They are tasty and make a great evening snack.