The Perfect Healthy Takeaway Pizza @ Pizzeria da Linha, Cascais

I'm going to say something that may shock you - I don't like ordering pizza.

Before you write me off as a crazy person (you still may, I mean I did make one of the most ridiculous statements a human could make...), the reason I don't like ordering pizza is because absolutely everyone I know is obsessed with pizza and whenever they want to eat out, eat takeaway, have a "cheat day" on their diet, we end up grabbing a pizza.

It gets a bit much. A little bit overkill. To have pizza so often, I mean. Maybe not for most anyone else but me.

Truth be told, I do seem to be the only one in this position, not even my husband Thomas, who has the pizza as often as I do, declines pizza yet. So yup, you can write me off as crazy.

Part of the reason I feel I'm put off pizza is because, while it's tasty, it rarely ever feels like a healthy option, and if I've been good on a diet, and every single "cheat day" I've had is pizza with friends or family, it feels like I'm blowing my diet progress out of the water for cheat meals that are redundant and boring.

The fix?

Pizza that doesn't count as a cheat day, because it's crust is so thin it doesn't qualify as cheating on my kind of diet (i.e. low carb).

You've read the title. You know I think Pizzeria da Linha is the perfect healthy takeaway pizza.

Let me show you the proof. Have a look at this crust:

I mean yeah, barely there right? The kind of thing you use to just prop up the cheesy goodness?

You might think, that's not my type of pizza. I like dough, I really like dough. That's legitimately the point of the pizza.

To which, I implore you, remember that the pizza is also about the cheese.

You know, this tasty stuff:

Yeah. That.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you're in Portugal (probably if you're anywhere in Southern Europe to be honest) - if you want the best pizza pretty much any pizzeria has, you're going to want to try the 4 cheese pizza.

Other things are good. They're pretty great. But 4 cheese: is the best. Almost everywhere.

Obviously I'm saying "almost" because I have to put in a qualifier in case there's like 3-4 places in all of Southern Europe that has a single other style of pizza that's better, but in the vast majority of cases - 4 cheeses pizza is the best.

I know, I know. You like meat. Maybe some olives. Maybe even like the way the Portuguese have their pizzas, with a delicious egg on top (don't knock it until you try it, it's actually phenom, A++ for ideas that sound crazy but work).

The problem is, they save the good cheese for the 4 cheese pizzas.

The other styles of pizzas have (typically cheaper) less tasty cheeses and so when push comes to shove, unless you're really craving something besides - you just have to rinse, repeat get the same 4 cheese pizza because otherwise you'll be sad and miss the good tasty cheese if you don't.

I know. You like variety. You think you won't cave.

You will. Probably not all the time. Possibly you'll switch things up every so often. But at least half the time, if not most of the time, you will order the 4 cheese pizza because it's so good you can't not.

So now that you know what you're going to order from Pizzeria da Linha, let me explain why you won't miss that crazy good, doughy medium or even thick crust.

In case you missed the "subtle" message.

The. Cheese.

It's so good. I swear you need to try it even if you're normally put off thin crust.

Like thin crust? Don't need any more convincing to try it? Okay let me explain to you how good this one is.

Alright imagine, crisp. Like legitimate crunch when you bite into the crust. Like so tasty you don't need a dip. Madness, I know. Complete insanity.

And imagine that cheese, but like - it doesn't make the pizza dough soggy. I know. Another near impossibility. Crazy talk. But it's true.

Now imagine the cheese and the crust not being at war with each other, but being in perfect harmony, the dough existing merely to prop up the cheese, to put it on the pedestal it deserves, prop it up and give it the lime light.

That's what I'm talking about here.

It's the perfect healthy pizza. And it travels pretty well.

Gets pretty cold pretty quickly if I'm honest because it's so thin, but if you eat it quickly, or (what I do) close the pizza box between taking out a slice to eat, you're good.

It's so good. Pizza you can have on a day that's not a cheat day - so you can save the doughy pizzas with medium or thick crusts for cheat days.

Yup. That's what I'm after. That's what I get from Pizzeria da Linha every single time.