Whilst fans of Manchester Italian restaurants like Ciaooo and Cibo may be no strangers to the idea of a chocolate-topped pizza, for most the idea of loading up a pizza base with sweet stuff seems bizarre to say the least.
Still, that’s exactly what’s going on at UK supermarket Morrisons – which has revealed it is selling a special Easter-themed pizza in honour of this year’s festive holiday.
Nuttela-topped pizzas are extremely common in Italy and often come topped with additional extras like sliced banana or strawberries, but Morrisons has taken things one step further in what can only be described as a truly British fashion.
Loaded with chocolate buttons and Cadbury’s mini eggs, chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough and cream cheese, the supermarket’s sickly sweet 10-inch dessert pizza special is back by popular demand.
Having first appeared on shelves at the supermarket chain in 2021, it has now returned with a slight price increase of 61p and is currently on sale in stores for £3.50.
When it was initially launched two years ago, the pizza received mixed reviews from Morrisons shoppers with some people online suggesting it was ‘diabetes, Italian-style’ whilst others praised the chocolate pizza as a sort of ‘large biscuit’.
Predictably, the pizza also has had its own dedicated Reddit thread created since its reappearance on shelves.
A Reddit user shared a picture of Morrisons’ chocolate and cookie dough-laden creation four days ago, writing: “Thank you Morrisons for Easter pizza” – and the post has amassed a fair few comments already.
Comments have been mixed, with one person writing: “Cheers, you’ve ruined my day” whilst another said, “This could be either delicious or disgusting.”
Another said: “I am both horrified and intrigued. I might try it. Once.”
A third joked: “Stonerbaked Easer pizza would be a more appropriate name for this late night mess of an idea.”
A fourth said: “If I worked in Morrison and saw this, I’d retire on the spot,” whilst a fifth commented: “And truly the Lord said ‘This is an anathema unto God.’
Featured image – Reddit
Eats
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Georgina Pellant -
3rd April 2023 
