Review: The lasagna pizza at Pizza Pilgrims, Cambridge

At Pizza Pilgrims, the beautifully-decorated Neapolitan pizza restaurant located at 59 Sidney Street, Cambridge, a ‘guest pizza’ is offered each month and throughout March that has been the lasagna pizza.

Made with mince, ragu, béchamel, grated nutmeg, mozzarella, pecorino and what at first glance appears to be fried tortilla chips on top (it’s actually the dried pasta sheets used to make the famous dish, deep fried), the pizza certainly looked appetising when it was brought to my table, despite my initial apprehension as to whether lasagna would even work as a pizza.

I’m always keen to try new, creative and attractively-presented dishes, though (unless they’ve got mushrooms, fish, parsnips or asparagus in them), so tackled it with enthusiasm.

As a lover of lasagna in its original form, I immediately enjoyed the ragu and béchamel combination, and it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the ‘tortilla chips’ weren’t actually tortilla chips (see above).

They can also be used to scoop up the meat, ragu and béchamel mixture as if it were a dip, while the pecorino tops it off nicely. I also loved the ‘puffy’ pizza base, which I believe is a hallmark of the Neapolitan style.

Given the choice between a traditional lasagna and a lasagna pizza, I’d probably go for the former, but it was certainly a delight to try this inventive new twist on such a classic dish.

Indeed, glancing at the menu, Pizza Pilgrims certainly offers some very interesting options. My wife had the carbonara pizza, for example, which while tasty, didn’t really convince me that spaghetti works on a pizza.

Next time, I think I might go for the eight-cheese pizza (I love the classic four-cheese pizza so this should be twice as good!) or the ‘Americana’, which is topped with hot dog sausages and French fries.

Pizza Pilgrims started in 2011, after brothers James and Thom Elliot decided they wanted to make traditional Neapolitan pizza.

They flew to the toe-end of Italy, picked up a three-wheel Piaggio Ape van and drove the 4,500km back to London, stopping off along the way at all the best pizza destinations. The pilgrimage, as it became known, was born.

After learning all they could about the art of pizza making, they began serving their pizza at London’s Berwick Street Market.

[Read more: Pizza Pilgrims launches in Cambridge with free pizza]

The first Pizza Pilgrims permanent pizzeria launched in Soho in 2013, and they now have more than 20 pizzerias across the UK. The Cambridge branch opened in 2022. The lasagna pizza is available until the end of March.

For more information, visit pizzapilgrims.co.uk.