Casa de Crews: Pazza Bistro: Fresh Casual Italian

I love food, and we know this. I am also trying to lose weight, and have mentioned a time or ~~twelve~~ two how when I have a weekly cheat meal, or two, I want something worth it. Food that is fresh, delicious, perhaps indulgent, and won't make me feel guilty for well, cheating. Enter Pazza Bistro: Fresh Casual Italian.

Located in the Shoppes at Park Place, close to Target and even closer to the movie theater, I was invited to try out their fresh menu last week with some local blog friends, and they did not disappoint, folks! Most everything is freshly made in house at Pazza Bistro. Homemade pastas, sauces, dough and dressings. I was impressed. I don't actually know if I have had fresh pasta in the past. I take that back, there is a distinct difference, and before last week I had never had fresh pasta. It was glorious.

To start, I ordered a Goose Island IPA. I'm not a huge IPA drinker, but this one was quite tasty. Plus, at some point I wanted to say I ate pizza and beer, duh.

After the difficult task of deciding which drink to have {they serve a number of beers, wine, and of course soda}, it was time to start with one of my favorites for dinner, salad with cheesy bread.

Italian Salad {tomatoes, mozzarella, prosciutto, artichokes and parmesan flakes}

Tropical Salad {tomatoes, pineapple, roasted red peppers, chicken and feta cheese}

You can tell the entire team at Pazza Bistro is very passionate about what they do. It was clear in the service, presentation, taste, and just everyones general attitude. I'd go back for that alone, and that is before I had pizza, pasta, and wait for it...nutella pizza.

After salad, we had not one, but two pizzas to sample: White Pizza, this month's special, and Quattro Formaggi; both had goat cheese. I am a sucker for any and all cheese, but you can put goat cheese on just about anything and I am a happy girl. Of the two, I'd have to say the Quattro Formaggi was my favorite. Go, and order it now. And don't forget to save me a slice. Sharing is caring, you know.

White Pizza {white pizza, mozzarella, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, spinach}

Quattro Formaggi {tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, goat cheese and parmesan}

We could have stopped at pizza, and I would have been beyond satisfied. But no, we had three pastas to try! All were amazing, fresh, and delicious. Each were better than the last. I couldn't decide which was my absolute favorite. But in the end it was a tie between the Tricolore {pesto, alfredo and napolentana combined with goat cheese}, and the Creamy Pesto {alfredo and pesto tossed with fresh spinach}. I loved the Lobster Pasta {sauteed shrimp, onions and mushrooms tossed in a lobster cream sauce}, of course, but mix sauces and add goat cheese and I'm a sucker.

Impromptu family style dinner

Tricolore, Creamy Pesto, and Lobster Pasta

And last but not least, we had dessert. Two words: nutella pizza. Boom. Let me preface with the fact that nutella anything can do no wrong in my book. Someone at the table said, "you could probably put nutella on rice and it would be good", and while I hope he was joking, he may be right. That's how much I love the stuff.

All of us full, we forged on like the great foodies we were. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. Warm nutella, and powdered sugar on a fresh made pizza? I mean if you have never had, you don't know what you are missing.

If beer, salad, pizza, pasta, and dessert were not enough, we received goodies to take home! We each were given a jar of red sauce, a jar of pesto and a bag of whole wheat pasta. Since Pazza Bistro does not use any artificial ingredients or preservatives, we were cautioned to use sooner than later. I would like to point out that since we did not have a pasta with red sauce, the following day I tried some of Pazza Bistro's over my own leftover pasta I had from the week. Amazing and flavorful. The end.