10 Specials
Available for Dine-in, Collection & Delivery
In response to a recent crisis of a pizza maker's version of writer's block, I have a plan. TEN SPECIALS IN TEN WEEKS! I've been struggling with new pizza ideas, so this should help get ideas flowing again. Hopefully this challenge will succeed and be a source of renewed creativity and innovation, and not fail spectacularly (stay tuned).
Check back here each week to discover the latest special! Available for dine-in, collection and delivery.
Special #1
1st to 7th May
Creative name, I know. Capers, Kalamata olives, lemon zest and truffle oil, with the optional addition of anchovies. And yes, this is the first time we’ve used truffle oil!
#2 - Ania's Special
8th to 14th May
A while back, I asked our newsletter subscribers to send their ideas for pizza toppings. Then, I picked my favourites and put them to a vote. There was a clear winner!
You may have guessed, but we’re calling it Ania’s Pizza because she was the one who suggested it! The lucky winner now has a pizza on the menu named after themselves and they won free pizza for a month!
Introducing Ania's Pizza, aka Special #2 - Mortadella (very popular and trendy right now), with pistachios (who doesn’t love pistachios?) We’ve also got our signature hay-smoked ricotta cream on there, with roasted pistachio pesto and crumbled roasted pistachios.
#3 - Zest & Crunchy
15th to 21st May
It's back. You might remember this from last year. It’s has our classic tomato and oregano base with fresh Somerset mozzarella (standard stuff for Oscar’s). Then, there's sliced courgettes dusted with copious amounts of lemon pepper seasoning and olive oil. We also add some oyster mushrooms and into the oven we go! After cooking we add some feta cheese and fresh thyme. The textures and flavours on this pizza are very satisfying indeed.
I hate overcooked courgettes, so we slice the courgettes into the perfect thickness, meaning they're still nice and crunchy when they come out the oven!
#4 - Joan's Pizza
22nd to 28th May
Another one I asked our newsletter subscribers to vote for, based on ideas previously sent in.
As indicated by the name, Joan won this round! They won free pizza for a month and a pizza named after themself on the menu.
This one's a classic that people always ask for and I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. It normally has some kind of white base and Joan has gone for a garlic butter. Then we have caramelised onions in a honey and balsamic reduction. There's also gorgonzola (first time using this at Oscar's!) with some lovely thinly sliced pears and walnuts.
Joan did specify fresh thyme or rosemary sprinkled on top but I’ve opted for a whole branch of rosemary as it’s one of my favourite little tricks! It gives a taste of smoke and roasted rosemary after being in the oven, isn’t that cool!?
#5 - Toni's Giant Peach
29th May to 11th June
Our third round of voting chose this peachy beauty. Our newsletter subscribers previously sent in loads of ideas and I've been putting them to a vote to decide the next set of specials!
The winner this time was a Peach & Balsamic idea from Toni! Peaches, goats cheese, balsamic drizzle and rocket. I love to put fruit on pizza - fruits and cheese go super well, and so does fruits and bread (aka pizza base). Toni opted for a balsamic glaze, which I'm very excited about too. We've made our own balsamic glaze, which is super nice and has made the pizza extra delicious!
Definitely worth a try! Can't wait to hear what you guys think.
#6 - Oscar’s Vegan Cheesy Pizza
12th to 18th June
As you guys already know, we take our vegan options very seriously at Oscar’s. We make our own vegan cheese and I’ve been super interested in what’s going on in the vegan food scene the last few years. I recently got to try vegan cathedral city cheddar, which is amazing! The texture and flavour are so similar to cheddar, I couldn’t believe it. It seems like vegan cheese is making good progress after all.
So, this inspired me to make a cheesy pizza that's fully vegan. It's got Oscar’s homemade vegan cheese, vegan cheddar, truffle mayonnaise, pickled onions and crispy onions! No surprise it's called Oscar’s Vegan Cheesy Pizza!
This pizza is so good that you don’t need to be vegan to eat it. So many people who are die hard meat eaters try our other vegan pizzas and say “that’s not actually that bad,” then go on to finish the entire pizza.
#7 - N’ectarine
19th to 25th June
We enjoyed doing the peach special so much two weeks ago, we thought we would do something similar this week! This one is based on an old special designed by Αrun, my very first assistant and employee, when I was back making pizzas from home.
Fresh sliced nectarines (we get them from Harvest from Mill Road and omg they are so good!) paired with n’duja (or our homemade plant-based n'duja for vegans and veggies), smoked ricotta and finished with fresh thyme! It's a lovely fresh summer pizza.
#8 - La Latina
26th June 2nd July
I wanted to do a Tequila sauce based pizza, because that is just so Instagrammable, isn’t it? It was also inspired by @crisppizzaw6 who have a tequila sauce based pizza, which slaps!
I asked Guillo, Oscar’s Pizza resident from Central America, to design the pizza. He’s from Guatemala which is right next to Mexico, so he was well up for the job of making a Mexican-inspired pizza. He opted for chicken, red onions, tamarind sauce and fresh coriander. (It's parsley in the image above, but we're ready with coriander for you guys.) For the vegan and veggie versions, we'll swap chicken for oyster mushrooms.
#9 - artichokes
3rd to 9th July
Goodness me this has felt like a long time. Who would have thought 9 weeks of having slightly more work than usual would feel like an eternity?! This week we’re unleashing an absolute classic. It's an artichoke and spinach pizza with a little bit of garlic, butter and cream (margarine and vegan cream for vegans). Tastes incredible!
Special #10
11th to 16th July
The last special of our 10 Specials in 10 Weeks! For the finale I’ve just made the nicest pizza I can think of and haven't held back whatsoever. It's got roasted oyster mushrooms, which are a limited-time only kinda thing. This pizza is truly special for that reason.
Tomato base
Mozzarella
ROASTED oyster mushrooms
Goats cheese
Honey
A branch of smoked rosemary
Basil
Fresh thyme
Crispy onions
For vegan options, we'll swap mozzarella for our homemade vegan cashew cheese, use vegan feta in place of goats cheese and agave syrup instead of honey.
MISSION COMPLETE
Creating 10 Specials in 10 Weeks has felt like ages. I thought it would be fun and fly by in no time, but it hasn’t...
Just kidding! Although it's been quite a bit of work, it’s made us really busy which is frankly amazing. Before, I was almost scared to put a special on because I felt like I had so many other things to do, but this began to be the focus of my week and it worked out great! After all, my job is to sell pizzas, isn't it? We’ve had some amazing specials and brilliant creations from team members, customers and myself. Thanks for all your support 🙌