Review: Specially Selected Stone Baked Pizza - Spinach and Goat Cheese (ALDI)

Frozen pizza. It's a go-to fun meal or snack for anyone short on funds or time. Most of us grew up enjoying frozen pies, even with the knowledge that it generally falls well short of the experience at our favorite pizzeria.

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Historically, frozen pizza was pretty bad stuff, no matter how much I loved the rectangular slices of Ellio's in my youth. DiGiorno claims that it was the originator of the rising-crust frozen pie more than twenty years ago, and that was a quantum leap forward for frozen pizza. For this blog, our standard for any pizzeria is when we ask "Is it better than DiGiorno?"  Truthfully, a lot of the mass-sourced floppy pies sold across America are not.

After DiGiorno, the next leap forward (in my experience) took place with the imported Trader Giotto pizza in the freezer section of Trader Joe's stores. Those pies are made in Italy, and the crust has both a flavor and texture that exceeds just about any other frozen pie.

Out of the box, before baking

Almost in the same league are frozen pizzas from the discount grocer ALDI, but only if the pies are imported from ALDI's home base in Germany. Yes, the land of lager and lederhosen makes a better frozen pizza than the typical American version.

Out of the oven

We've reviewed ALDI's frozen Mama Cozzi's Caprese imported-from-Germany pizza before, and it was top-rank for frozen pizza. More recently, we found "Specially Selected" stone-baked pizza in the freezer case. Once I saw that it was made it Germany and on sale for just $2.29, I figured it to be a worthy gamble.

The uncooked pie is 16.5 ounces and has 1,050 calories, which is modest by frozen pie standards. It's big enough for two adults to share as a meal, but a big guy could eat the whole thing pretty easily. Before I baked it, I added some ALDI-sourced pepperoni. In addition to the goat cheese, the pie was made with emmentaler cheese, which did pair nicely with the other toppings.

Package directions called for 12-14 minutes at 400 degrees "until cheese is melted." After 15 minutes, the cheese showed no sign of melting and the cornicione remained pale, so I finished the pie with 3 minutes under the broiler. Looking back, I had done the same thing with the Mama Cozzi's pizza, too.

Golden brown underside, crisp yet chewy

I cut it into six smallish slices. The crust was firm, easily supporting the toppings. Crunchy throughout, it also had an almost-airy chewiness closer to the cornicione. This imported crust is just more like authentic pizza than most other frozen stuff. The mix of tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes was about perfect; on the Mama Cozzi's pie, the same type of cherry tomatoes had put out too much moisture, but not here.

Nice hole structure near the cornicione

While the spinach was more decorative than substantive, the round wheels of goat cheese were surprisingly redolent with umami and a "never-frozen" texture. I love goat cheese, even though I have mixed feelings about it as a pizza topping. Here, it worked perfectly. And of course, the entire pie was enhanced by my addition of the pepperoni, even as it inflated the calorie count.

Bottom line - this pizza won't make you forget any of the great pizzas found in the real world, but it's good flavor and a balanced texture at a modest  price in dollars and calories. Another win for ALDI.

Review: SimplyNature Uncured Pepperoni Thin & Crispy Pizza (ALDI)

Having tried and liked several varieties of frozen pizza from ALDI (as well as THIS take-and-bake pie), I was intrigued by the appearance of an "Uncured Pepperoni" thin and crispy pizza bearing the SimplyNature brand.  

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What is uncured pepperoni? The USDA defines uncured as products that have not been preserved by adding sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate. ALDI tells us that this uncured pepperoni contains "no nitrates or nitrites except those naturally occurring in in sea salt and celery juice powder." See?  I told you that pizza is a health food! 

I generally check the calorie count, and I must reject some frozen pies when I see the obscene numbers. This pie, though (which cost about $4) had only 840 calories for the entire pizza.  Some are over 3,000 calories.

When I took it out of the box, it was easy to see why it has a modest calorie count.  It's a very thin crust, and at most 12 inches in diameter. Any adult male could easily eat the whole thing; I prepared it for two, along with a big garden salad.

Out of the oven, party-cut

Following package directions, I baked it at 425 degrees directly on the center rack for 9-12 minutes (closer to 12).  The top looked fully cooked, but the bottom could have benefited from another minute in the oven.

Given its resemblance to the thin-crust Midwestern kind of pies you'd find at regional chain Monical's (reviewed HERE), I sliced it in the square party-cut style common to bar pies and Midwestern thin crust pizza.

The crust was whole wheat, and you could see the darker color and tell by its taste. Overall, the texture was chewy and satisfying but lacking the crunch I prefer. The sauce was thin and sweet. No off notes, but it did not deliver any full flavors. The cheese was a role player, too. Not bad, but not special.

Underside of the whole-wheat crust

The pepperoni, with generous amounts of big circles, was the highlight. It had a savory-salty flavor and a good chewy texture. But in general, this is the kind of pie that sends you looking for something to sprinkle on top (cheese, pepper flakes, oregano, garlic powder, or salt) to give it some oomph.

This pie - and its ambition to be a healthy version of pizza - earns a 5. Not a bad $4 emergency dinner to have in your freezer, but not a pizza I would seek out again.  It pales in comparison to the other ALDI $4 frozen pizza - Mama Cozzi's Caprese - which is made in Germany. 

Review: Mama Cozzi's Take & Bake Thin Crust Pizza (Sausage and Pepperoni)

For decades, pizza lovers have had the quick-fix option of frozen pizza to bake at home. Although the quality of frozen pizza has improved substantially, it still lags well behind the better pies that you can make yourself or buy from a pizzeria.

Mama Cozzi's Thin-crust Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza

One recent "convenience pizza" development is the "take and bake" refrigerated pizza. These began in specialty shops, such as Mom Mom's Take and Bake, in Newtown PA. (Bonus trivia - Mom Mom's was shown in the 2002 film Signs that was shot in Bucks County, PA). At these specialty stores, you could order a customized pie on a par-baked crust, then take it home for the full bake. As I recall, the Spinach Salad pizza at Mom Mom's was especially tasty.

Within the last five years, the refrigerated take and bake pizzas have begun to show up in just about every supermarket. They seem to be priced as loss leaders - big pizzas, loaded with toppings, in the $5 to $8 range. A few years ago, we tried the Artisan Take and Bake pizza from Costco - full review is HERE. 

Being ALDI fans in general, we also tried the ALDI version, Mama Cozzi's Italian Meat Pizza - full review HERE. It was a thin-crust pie that remained chewy, not crackerlike, after baking. Recently in the local ALDI, I saw a large variety of take and bake pies, but was drawn (again) to the thin-crust one. It seems as if the Italian Meat pizza has been re-badged as a simple Sausage and Pepperoni pizza with a blend of mozzarella and provolone (compared to the "five cheeses" of the Italian Meat pizza).

Right out the freezer, in shrink wrap, before baking

The instructions changed a bit, too, with recommended baking time of 10-16 minutes instead of 10-14. Before baking, I removed all the meat and then distributed it more evenly on the pie, and I cut each large pepperoni slice into two bite-sized pieces. I also added a bit of sweet yellow peppers and purple onion.

Post bake, before slicing

I followed the directions and baked it at 400 degrees. I put it on a low rack, with my Baking Steel on another rack six inches above to better deliver top heat.To reach an ideal state of crispness, I often need to cook frozen or take/bake pizzas longer than indicated by package directions, and then finish them under the broiler to get some top browning. However, I checked this one at 12 minutes and it seemed done underneath and on top.

Sliced and ready to eat

I gave it a traditional cut into 8 triangles for serving. The first thing we noticed was the thin and crackerlike crust. This one was not chewy like the Italian Meat pie; it was crisp (yet dense), crunchy, and it had an excellent flavor. 

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Every other ingredient was a role player; the sauce and cheese and meats surely contributed to a well-balanced taste and texture, but none stood out as especially good or lacking.

I think the regular price on this 16" pizza is $4.99; I found it on special for $3.49. At either price point, this is a tasty pizza that sits - without shame - about halfway between a good cracker-thin crust Midwest pie like Rubino's (full review HERE) and the cheapest thin cracker frozen from Totino's. 

A close look at the thin crackerlike crust

Underside of the crust

There is no such thing as a good low-calorie pizza, but this entire pie clocks in at 1900 calories, so if you eat half of it, you're still under 1000 calories. That puts this pie on the low end of the pizza calorie spectrum. Scary, perhaps, but then don't even look at the calories on some of the meat-laden self-rising frozen pies you can get.

This pizza was better than what you get from the large chains, better than most frozen pizza, and even better than most mom-and-pop storefront pizzas. It's not grand or gourmet, but like most things ALDI, it was pretty good and very inexpensive. We'll have it again, no doubt.

UPDATE FEB 2018:  The pies offered at ALDI continue to rotate. Here is our newest review of Mama Cozzi's "Hangry Tomato" frozen pizza.

"The Sizzler" Hangry Tomato Pizza from ALDI

Review: Mama Cozzi's Caprese Pizza (ALDI)

ALDI Supermarket offers a selection of big 16" Mama Cozzi's refrigerated pizzas for baking at home. We reviewed one of those - the "Italian Meat Pizza" HERE and found it to be above average. 

Mama Cozzi's Caprese Pizza

Recently, my local ALDI (Exton, PA) began offering some new varieties of frozen pizzas. Most of these are considerably smaller than the refrigerated pies, and a bit cheaper.

 

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Most of ALDI's store-brand products are good or better quality, and I've found that the items imported from Germany (ALDI's home) are often the best. 

I was intrigued to see the rotating selection of frozen pies include a few new ones, including a Greek style pizza and the Caprese, topped with cherry tomatoes.

We paid just $3.99 for the Caprese. This small pizza contains a whopping 1200 calories, but that is on the low end for frozen pizza. Beyond the cherry tomatoes, it also has "marinated semi-dried" tomatoes. I take them to be akin to sun-dried, but probably dried in a commercial oven.

 

Frozen pizza, before baking, just out of the box

I also bought a bag of Mama Cozzi's pepperoni, and added some before the bake. I followed the package directions and baked it directly on the middle rack of my oven at 400 degrees. 

The baked Mama Cozzi's Caprese pizza

At the conclusion of the recommended baking time, it looked pale and undercooked, so I gave it 2 minutes under the broiler to finish. (That's a good tip for reheating pizza, too).

It came out of the oven with an appealing look. It was quite small - less than ten inches in diameter. The toppings held fast to the crust when I cut it into six modest slices. With the pie I had some $1.49 ALDI-sourced sparkling Italian mineral water (akin to San Pellegrino).

One flaw was that the cherry tomatoes gave up a lot of water that was pooling in the center of the pie; I wicked it up with a paper towel. That is the reason I never use fresh tomatoes on home-made pizza; they are too wet.

On the first bite, I was struck by the flavor of the toppings. There is buffala mozzarella as well as "Italian style cheese," and I think those semi-dried tomatoes added a lot of punch. The crust was firm, rigid, with a good crunch and yet still a soft chewy center. It was a little bit cracker-like, in the way that a good bar pie might be.

This was a highly enjoyable pizza, easily one of the best frozen pizzas I've tried. It compares very well with the frozen pizzas, imported from Italy, available at Trader Joe's bearing the Trader Giotto tag line. (See our review of Trader Giotto Pizza Margherita HERE). Both are modest in cost and calories, imported from Europe, and sport a remarkably good crust. 

Crust with nice color, flavor, texture

No sag to this crisp crust

Compared to any pizza -- fresh, refrigerated, or frozen -- this pie earns a huge 7.  Compared to just frozen pizzas, this one (along with Trader Giotto) is a 9.  Cheap, tasty, and highly recommended.

Review: ALDI Specially Selected Pizza Kit

Given my satisfaction with other refrigerated or frozen pizza offerings at ALDI (such as Mama Cozzi's, reviewed HERE), I was intrigued when I saw a weekly special for a $3.79 "Specially Selected" Pizza Kit in the refrigerated section. The kit is a long narrow box, which contains only a small jar of "sweetly spiced sauce" and a small rectangle of pizza dough, rolled up with parchment paper. 

Following the package directions, I pre-heated the oven to 425 and assembled the pie. I added some grated Gouda cheese and slices of ALDI "Country Style Chicken Breakfast Sausage."

I was tempted to bake it directly on my Pizza Grate (full story here on that cooking surface) but instead laid the parchment on the grate. I was also tempted to cook it at a higher temp, but I kept it at 425.

Just dough and sauce in the box

Before baking

The directions called for 15-20 minutes, but the pie looked pale so I left it in for 25 minutes. Even after that, it was not crisp or rigid as I removed the pie; instead the crust was limp.

Out of the oven

I cut it into 8 square slices. The thin crust was sturdy enough to eat it without knife and fork. This pizza (product of Austria!) was tasty enough, but no better than an average frozen pizza. Its soft crust and sweet sauce will probably appeal to children. The Gouda and sausage were nice enhancements, but did not lift the pie above average.

Pale underside of a slice

The crust could be better if I cooked it right on the Pizza Grate or my Baking Steel at 550 degrees, but that sweet sauce is a limiter. The crust - thin, limp, pale when prepared as directed - gets a 3.  The sauce gets a 5. The parchment paper is a nice touch. This is a decent buy at its sub-$4 price, but unless you are feeding kids, why bother?