The cult Manchester pizzeria launches its at home service
It was at loggerheads with GMP last year over whether one of its ginormous NYC-style slices constituted a substantial meal with a beer at Northern Quarter ‘pizza restaurant’ Common, but we reckon Nell’s should be in the news every week simply for being some of the finest pizza available in Manchester.
All you have to do is defrost them and whack em in the oven for ten minutes to unlock 'OG Cheese heaven'
Currently flinging them hot out of Chorlton's The Beagle, they're also one of (if not the) biggest with a whopping 22-inch diameter. That’s over half a metre in new money.
It would drape provocatively over the sides if I put one on my coffee table. Four of them side by side in between you and me would be well over the recommended social distancing gap - and, in less antisocial times, a great starting point for a date night.
They’re big.
What's new with Nell's?
Well, you might want to hoick out all your rock-solid bags of peas and miscellaneous gunk in plastic tubs to make some room in your freezer because Nell’s has just launched its at-home range.
Available for sale from next Thursday, March 4 from the chiller cabinets and freezers of your favourite independent grocery stores across Greater Manchester.
Are they going to fit in my fridge, freezer and oven?
No need to get the tape measure out on your freezer drawers or drunk-purchase a catering oven. As impressive as those enormous pies are, the at-home range has been created with the home kitchen in mind. So they’re smaller (18cm) and, as it’s hip to be square right now, they’re square too.
They’re still made using the same dough - but proved for longer than usual: 72 hours - and topped with the same top-drawer local ingredients (think Littlewoods Butchers’ ham, Cobble Lane Pepperoni and Crafty Cheeseman cheese).
Then they’re baked, chilled down, frozen and packaged fresh on site. All you have to do is defrost them and whack em in the oven for ten minutes to unlock “OG Cheese heaven”.
So to recap: you’re getting a personal, square pizza with a thicker crust than the ones on Deliveroo, tray baked at home to “crispy, bubbly, cheesy perfection”.
Where can I get one of these frozen Nell’s pizzas?
You can pick one up in person from indie grocery stores across Greater Manchester: Ancoats General Store, Sale’s Groceries and Beer, Stretford Foodhall, Castlefield STORE locations, Bernie’s Grocery Store in Heaton Moor and Grape to Grain in Prestwich.
Alternatively, click and collect via the Common & Co app, from The Beagle.
Something to wash it down with, sir?
Prestwich wine buffs Grape To Grain are hosting a Zoom #PizzaWine tasting on March 4th which includes three wines (in a choice of mini taster bottles, 500ml carafes or - our preference, obvs - full bottles) and a Nell’s at home pizza. Word on the, er, grapevine is these wine tastings are some of the best in Manchester.
Tickets start at £20 and you’ll be guided through a tasting of three of their fave ‘Thursday Wines’ - Fantini Farnese Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Corte Giara Bardolino and Cappello di Prete 'Rosso del Salento' from Puglia.
Tickets are available here - booking closes on Monday 1st March.
Nell's Pizza, The Beagle, 456-458 Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 0BQ
