The rise in vegan products on supermarket shelves has meant a race to get new and interesting products out there recently.
Pizza seems to be the latest battleground for those fighting for the vegan pounds.
I grabbed (literally) this the falafel pizza out of the Sainsbury’s freezer faster than you can say “hummus aisle”. The price of £2.50 for a normal-sized pizza helped too!
Facebook comments when I posted a picture seem to centre around “why does everything revolve around falafel?” I can sympathise with that view – I’m actually not a huge falafel fan – they can be a bit dry!
On close inspection of the ingredients list, it seems there’s also a “hummus drizzle” – falafel and hummus make the perfect go-to vegan marriage – and that coupling alone will take many to vegan heaven – what a threesome: pizza, falafel and hummus!
To be honest, I didn’t really notice the hummus drizzle – I think it’s more of a trickle than a drizzle. But, on the whole, the pizza is nice.
There’s lots of topping – it’s especially heavy on the falafel (it is a falafel pizza after all) and the red pepper. There seemed to be a fair bit of spinach too – so you can tell your friends that it’s a slightly healthy meal! It looks very colourful too.
The base is nice and crispy – and certainly not too thick. The falafel is the dominant flavour, but there’s a mild to medium spicy kick. It’s not overly overpowering, but it raises the taste stakes above the bland.
And it needs that kick – the falafel alone isn’t enough to captivate my taste-buds’ interest, but the not-too-powerful kick gives it an extra layer of much-needed flavour. It isn’t too fiery, and I think most people will be able to handle it – I’m certainly not a “the hotter the better type person in the heat stakes.
It isn’t a messy pizza eating wise. This is probably due to the fact there’s no vegan cheese. It relies on the falafel as its main selling point – and I think this works – to an extent. But there’s nothing to stop vegans adding their own toppings to liven things up! For me, a pizza is naked without mushrooms – at least one Facebook friend added vegan cheese to hers and many will miss tomato slices. Garlic and chilli peppers could be an addition for those who do like to taste more spice.
All in all, it’s nice, but it didn’t fill me up. I do eat a lot – if I’m honest – so a side of onion rings or chips makes it the perfect Saturday evening meal.
Finally, I must also add that there are a lot of independent vegan firms now producing pizzas – they may be slightly more expensive, but we all want to support our local health food shops, don’t we?