Review: Roberta's Wood Fired Pizza (Frozen)

I've made the trek to Bushwick, that worn-down part of Brooklyn being revitalized as young hipsters find Williamsburg and Park Slope to be too expensive.

One of the earliest signs that Bushwick would be an attractive neighborhood was the opening of Roberta's Pizza, where the Neapolitan pizzas are both faithful to the authentic Naples version yet creatively American in toppings. Roberta's makes one of America's best Neapolitan pies.

The pizza I ate at Roberta's in Brooklyn

Frozen pizza, on the other hand, rarely reaches gourmet level. It's tasty and passable, especially the rising-crust style frozen pies. The best frozen pizzas I've had to date, though, are the small thin Neapolitan-ish pies at Trader Joe's (the Trader Giotto brand, imported from Italy) and the occasional specialty frozen pizza from ALDI (but only those imported from Germany).

With that as background, I was delighted to learn that a line of Roberta's frozen pizzas are now available at Whole Foods. There are two varieties - a base Margherita and the "Baby Sinclair" which is a white pie with kale. At my local Whole Foods, I bought the Sinclair because it was the only style available.

Neither pie contains any meat ingredients. The packaging is novel in that you have clear plastic shrink wrap instead of a cardboard box; this allows you to see exactly what you are buying. These are small 9.7 ounce pizzas, and priced at $11.99. Expensive compared to almost any other pizza, but cheap when compared to a fresh pie at any high-end pizzeria.

Before baking

I followed the package instructions, cooking it for five and a half minutes at 450 degrees, directly on the oven rack. I was tempted to add some soppressata, but to make a fair taste test the only embellishment was the addition of fresh garden basil after it came out of the oven. I cut it into six small slices.

Out of the oven

A freshly-baked Neapolitan has a soft and pliable crust, but this very thin crust was crisp and rigid. The immediate impression on the first bite was the forward flavor of the cheese blend - cheddar and Parmigiano. 

The kale was plentiful, but its flavor subdued. The garlic was a nice and powerful note. Although this pizza was tagged "medium spicy" I could not detect any heat at all from the Calabrian chilies.

As noted, the wafer-thin crust was crisp from edge to edge. Despite this departure in texture from the fresh-baked pie I'd eaten on my visit to Roberta's in Bushwick, it retained a lot of the excellent flavor. With that tasty base and the nice mix of strong flavors from the cheese and garlic, this was an exceptionally tasty frozen pizza.

Good char underneath

Bottom line, this is the best frozen pizza I've had. If this was your only taste of Roberta's pizza, it would not send you in a hurry to try one freshly-baked.  But it's almost as good as leftover pizza that got slightly overbaked on the re-heat. If it's in your budget, you should upgrade to this (or Trader Giotto) from whatever frozen pizza that is currently taking up space in your freezer.