Not content with being Manchester’s primo New York pizza spot, Nell’s are taking things a step further by launching Nell’s At Home, allowing you to bake some of the city’s finest ‘za from the comfort of your own kitchen.
In keeping with a proud NYC tradition, the WFH version will come as a Grandma Pie, all square and cheesy and heartwarming. The team at Nell’s do all the leg work, prepping the pies on site before freezing them, meaning all you have to do is let those suckers defrost before slinging them into your oven for 10 minutes.
The topping of choice will be the staple OG Cheese, Nell’s best selling blend of crushed tomatoes, mozarella, parmesan and extra virgin olive oil, all served up on their signature house dough, which has been proved for 72 hours beforehand.
Since launching last February, Nell’s has become a firm favourite in the city centre, sequestered in Common in the Northern Quarter, they’ve packed revellers onto Edge Street with 22 inch slices overhanging their paper plates and have transformed a corner of town into their own little slice of Brooklyn, all while gaining national media attention due to their giant slices generating a debate over what constituted a ‘substantial meal’.
But there can be no argument over how substantial their new bake at home offering is. Originating in Long Island, the Grandma Pie comes on a slightly thicker crust than your usual New Yorker (and slightly lighter than the similar Sicilian, with which it is often confused), and is kept simple with cheese and tomatoes decorating the square base. It is apt that it’s humble beginnings stem from Italian housewives adapting the usual recipe due to not having pizza ovens in their own homes. Decades later and Nell’s are replicating this need for a homebaked equivalent, gifting us authentic corner slices straight to our living rooms.
Over a year of research has gone into developing Nell’s at Home, so you can rest assured that these pies are going to be no joke. Given the intensive tour of New York Johnny and the team at Common undertook ahead of launching Nell’s in the first place, you know more than a few Grandma slices were thrown back during that trip, meaning a significant taste testing of the world’s finest squares has gone into these pies, from the legendary Di Fara in Midwood to Best and L’industrie out in Williamsburg. Colour us very, very excited.
The pies will be stocked across Manchester, at Ancoats’ General Store, Bernie’s Grocery in Heaton Moor, Stretford Foodhall, Groceries & Beer in Sale, Store in Castlefield, Beagle in Chorlton and Grape to Grain in Prestwich. The official drop date is Thursday 4th March, which will coincide with a #PizzaWine tasting at 8pm at Grape to Grain, with tickets starting at £20 for a pie and a guided tasting of three of their favourite ‘Thursday Wines’ – Fantini Farnese Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Corte Giara Bardolino and Cappello di Prete ‘Rosso del Salento’ from Puglia. Booking closes on 1st March, with tickets available HERE.
So if you’ll excuse me, I just need to pick out a crisp white tee to wear for when I inevitably send sauce and cheese oozing off the crust from my first bite all the way down my front. Cannot…wait.
